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A CROWN FAINTLY SEEN 



THE GREAT 



American Empire-, 



oia, 



GEI. ULYSSES S. GRAKT 



EMPEROR OF 



NORTH AMERICA, 



By 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 



to 

ST. LOUIS: I 

W. S. BRYAN, Publisher, 

602 N. 4th Street, 
1S79. 



ir 














Copyrighted, 1879, by W. S. BRYAN. 



DO YOU? 

Do you believe that General Ulysses S. Grant 
seriously contemplates the destruction of the Amer- 
ican Republic and the establishment of an Ameri- 
can Empire upon its ruins, with himself at its head? 
Whether you believe it or not, there is evidence 
enough of this startling fact in the following pages 
to convince any candid reader that there is at least 
danger, in the near future, to our Republican insti- 
tutions, and that it is time for every true American 
to be on his guard. 

THE PLANS, 

As revealed in this book, were arranged at the " pri- 
vate " and " confidential " interviews which Gen- 
eral Grant held, while in Europe, with the rulers of 
the four great Empires, England, Germany, Austria 
and Russia, and were as follows : General Grant 
was to continue his " tour around the world " until 
just previous to the next Presidential campaign, 
when he would return to the United States and 
manipulate the wires in such a way as to secure the 
nomination by the National Republican Conven- 
tion fur a third term. If nominated he will be 
elected, by either fair or foul means, and once elect- 
ed he will never again relinquish the reins of govern- 



4 DOYOU ? 

ment. The army and navy, upon one pretext and 
another, will be vastly increased from the floaiing 
and worthless population of this country and Europe 
- — the tramps and vagabonds who have no love of 
country, and know nothing but to " obey orders." 
These will be placed under command of Grant's 
known and trusted friends, and distributed at stra- 
tegic points through the country and along our sea- 
coasts. Then, when the auspicious moment has 
arrived, General Grant will proclaim himself Empe- 
ror of North America, and he will be sustained by 
his own army and navy and the armies and navies 
of the four Empires mentioned above. 
Read and be warned in time ! 



PREFACE. 



If a man were sleeping in his boat just above 
the falls of Niagara ; if a child were about tak- 
ing to its bosom a hideous reptile ; if a babe 
were carelessly playing with a deadly tarran- 
tula, we would make no apology for rushing 
to the rescue. In fact, he who would not 
raise the alarm and strike for the safety of 
the imperiled one would be a traitor to hu- 
manity — a murderer of the basest sort. 

So, also, he who could complacently look 
upon his own country's ship of state rapidly 
nearing an awful cataract ; he who would see 
his own free government about to hug to its 
vitals a reptile of the most poisonous charac- 
ter; he who would see his own people care- 
lessly embracing a monster more venomous 
than the tarrantula, and not instantly sound 
the shrill notes of warning and give his life, if 
necessary, for his country's safety, is a despi- 
cable traitor and deserves a traitor's death. 

The author of this book, a private, patri- 



6 PREFACE. 

otic citizen, who has always refused to re- 
ceive political honors, has unmistakably read 
the "signs of the times," sees his country in 
this terrible condition, and sounds the tocsin 
of alarm, and has no apology to offer for the 
appearance of this work. 

Patriotic fellow-citizens, read these words 
of warning; note well all our premises and 
conclusions, and you will know that this is 
not a false alarm. With us, then, strike for 
the safety of your country, and strike ere it 
is too late. 



THE GREAT AMERICAN EMPIRE. 



IMPENDING DANGERS. 

" Coming events cast their shadows be- 
fore," and, by the light of the experiences 
of the nations that have so suddenly arisen 
and fallen in the past few centuries, the wise 
can most truthfully discern the dangers that 
lie in the way of Republicanism in the future 
history of the United States of America. 

There are very (c\v people in this nine- 
teenth century who place confidence in 
prophecies made from data obtained from 
the peculiar groupings of constellations of 
stars ; but some things have been written from 
such data in the past that cannot do less than 
cause us to stop and think. 

Two hundred and seventy years ago lived 
the great Danish astronomer, Herr Hansen, 
the bosom friend of Kepler. This wonder- 
ful man professed to read the future history 
of the world from the mysterious movements 
of the stars. Among very many other 
strange things, he told of the establishment 



8 THE GREAT 

of a mighty government upon the Western 
Continent, which he styled the " Great E n- 
pire of the West." Most vividly did he pic- 
ture the troubles and trials of the patriots in 
the establishment of this government, and we 
must gracefully acknowledge that many of 
his prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter. 

Herr Hansen gave us the following graphic 
picture of our civil war of 1861-65 : 

"The Great Empire of the West shall 
writhe in crushing agony, yet it shall rise in 
power and majesty, and cast off the black 
mantle of great wickedness in its deliver- 
ence. 

In prophetic vision, which seemed scarcely 
less than inspiration, this great astronomer 
saw the end of our prosperity as a nation, the 
time of which he places early in the decade 
beginning with 1 880. 

Concerning the troubles that shall cluster 
about the later days of our national exist- 
ance he says : 

" Near the close of the third decade (the 
decades are numbered from the beginning of 
the last half of the century, 1850) the trail of 
fire passes westward over the sea to the Wes- 
tern Empire, gathering intenser fury and 
greater power even to the second year of the 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 9 

fourth decade (1882). Dire calamity clouds 
the Great Empire, and its stars of promise 
pale and expire. Wars shall be distinguished 
by great terror, and armies shall meet with 
pestilence and famine, and the Great Empire 
shall not rise again, but shall be thenceforth 
as strange peoples, living with jealousy and 
enmity." 

Wonderful words of the Danish sage! But 
the signs of the times tell us that there is 
danger that his mysterious prophecy will be 
too nearly fulfilled. 

These pages go not forth on a sensational 
mission; but, believing that dangers of the 
most terrible kind are impending, we rush to 
the rescue of our countrymen. Arouse, ye 
freemen ! Look at the gathering clouds 
above your heads ! See the fathomless abyss 
before you ! Look over its fearful brink and 
see the terrible miseries that are being rapid- 
ly generated for our children and our chil- 
dren's children! The prophecy of Herr 
Hansen may not be fulfilled in minutia, 
but if great hearts, gigantic brains and 
strong arms do not come to the front and 
bravely bid defiance to the gathering and 
consolidating influences which are silent- 
ly, but most powerfully at work, American 



10 THE GREAT 

freedom and American independence will be 
among the things that were before the close 
of the next decade. 

Throughout the civilized world there is a 
fast growing feeling of uneasiness among 
the friends of Democratic institutions as they 
look at the shaping of events in our own 
midst. Our most patriotic statesmen look 
forward with fearful forebodings, and whis- 
per to their bosom companions that the 
" situation is critical." Very many, indeed, 
publicly predict the speedy downfall of our 
grand Republic, and the establishment of a 
Monarchy in its stead. 



FOREIGN INTRIGUE. 

For half a century America has been en- 
vied by all the Kings and Emperors of the 
civilized world. They have mourned when 
we have prospered, and rejoiced when we 
have been passing through the dark waters 
of adversity. Royalty has ever waged a 
furious war against Republicanism, and, 
though publicly expressing sympathy and 
encouragement, it is secretly constantly in- 
triguing to cause its overthrow. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. II 

The crowned heads of Europe, though 
often acting as enemies to each other, are 
allies in their hatred of American freedom, 
and are in secret plotting to destroy our 
civil and religious liberties, that a Monarch 
may sway his sceptre from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. How closely did royal eyes watch 
the issues in the war of the Rebellion ! 
Great joy filled every royal heart when the 
news swept abroad that the first gun had 
been fired upon Fort Sumpter, and how 
eagerly did the English, German and Rus- 
sian governments watch the movements of 
the armies. Representatives from each coun- 
try were sent to our shores, and they were in 
constant intercourse with both of the con- 
tending forces. Secretly the Confederate 
government was aided in every conceivable 
manner. Not that royalty loved the cause of 
the South more than that of the North; but 
a hope was entertained that victory for the 
South would result in the destruction of 
American Republicanism. But the Con- 
federate armies were defeated, notwithstand- 
ing the royal assistance which they received ; 
the Rebellion was crushed, the war closed, 
and the hopes of royalty were blighted. 



12 THE GREAT 

THE DANGER NOT OVER. 

The war closed, but America's troubles did 
not end. The terrible bitterness engendered 
between the North and the South by the war 
rendered a peaceable arrangement of affairs 
impossible, and to the mind of royalty, no 
reconstruction of State governments in the 
South could be reached save through a Dic- 
tator. This state of things re-inspired hope 
in the hearts of English, German and Rus- 
sian diplomats, and the whole civilized world 
was searched for the " Man of Destiny" — 
he who should be the Dictator for the United 
States, well knowing that imperial honors 
would soon crown the Dictator's head. 



THE MAN OF DESTINY. 

The great wheel of fortune was not slow in 
bringing into prominence the man so eagerly 
sought by the princely diplomats. When 
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant came marching home 
from the seat of the war of the Rebellion, 
at the head of his victorious army, all eyes 
were turned upon him. A nation of freed- 
men regarded him but little inferior to a 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 1 3 

god, and the patriots of the North lauded 
him to the skies. Potentates accepted him 
as the " Man of Destiny," the coining Dicta- 
tor of the United States. 

At this juncture in the history of General 
Grant, the world-renowned soldier, no other 
man possessed such a wonderful influence and 
power over the American people. Every- 
thing that he asked was willingly granted. 
He suddenly became the "rising star" of 
the West — the hope of European royalty. 

General Grant's sudden ascent to the cli- 
max of influence and power did not afford 
time to thoroughly consider the situation — 
to lay plans for future greatness. The prin- 
ciples of Republicanism had been instilled 
into him from infancy, and his highest 
thought of power was in this connection. 
The Presidency of the United States was 
asked and freely given by the grateful peo- 
ple, and he ascended to the chair in the 
White House amid the loudest acclamations 
of praise. 

Having obtained this, the highest position 
that a Republican government could bestow, 
General Grant paused to discuss in his own 
mind the probabilities of the future, and the 
.most popular course that he could pursue. 



14 THE GREAT 

A CROWN FAINTLY SEEN. 

Judging from his subsequent actions, it is 
but reasonable to presume that General Grant 
had scarcely taken his seat in the presiden- 
tial chair before his horiscope was crowded 
with faint visions of royalty. His nearest 
friends, however, knew nothing of these 
strange thoughts and aspirations, if in fact 
they really did take shape, for no other Presi- 
dent ever sat in the chair of state who was so 
thoroughly non-committal. He kept his 
own counsels; laid his own plans; and, with 
an adroitness never paralled in the history of 
American statesmanship, induced his cabinet 
and the chief of every department — Legisla- 
tive, Judicial and Executive — to aid him in 
reaching the desired results. 



ONE CONFIDENTIAL. 

It is presumable, however, that the aspir- 
ing ruler did have one " confidential, " and 
that one was no less a personage than A. T. 
Stewart, the merchant-prince of New York. 
Without money, kingly aspirations can never 
be satisfied; without money, Emperors can- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I 5 

not rule, and without money, President Grant 
could not hope to startle the world by dicta- 
torial assumptions. A. T. Stewart, whose 
wealth at that time must have nearly reached 
the ponderous sum of one hundred millions 
of dollars, seems to have been the financial 
hope of the scheming President. That this 
man, a foreigner by birth, might be intimately 
conversant with the executive manipulations 
of the government, he was nominated by the 
President for Secretary of the Treasury. 

On account of ineligibility to the office 
the Senate did not confirm the nomination 
of A. T. Stewart, and thus the President's 
plans were unexpectedly thwarted. Of 
course we have no positive statements from 
the lips of President Grant concerning the 
real object which he had in view in the nom- 
ination of this merchant-prince to this very 
important office. Positive statements relative 
to personal plans he never made; but the 
shrewd reader of indications could not do 
otherwise than see the intended sequel to all 
this adroit statesmanship. Men talk of the 
President's lack of statesmanship. Why, 
sirs, no sharper, shrewder statesman ever trod 
the shores of our free land, and this the 
world will speedily be forced to acknowledge. 



l6 THE GREAT 

Had Mr. Stewart succeeded to the Secre- 
taryship of the Treasury of the United 
States, President Grant could, doubtless, 
have had at his control fifty millions of dol- 
lars (which amount could have been spared 
from Mr. Stewart's business without at all in- 
terfering with its operations). With this sum 
of money at his immediate command, with 
the prejudices of the whole country in his 
favor, and with the hearty co-operation of 
every king and potentate of the old world, 
how very easy would it have been for him to 
have converted the ruling prerogatives of a 
President of the American Republic to those 
of an Emperor of North America! But the 
rejection of Mr. Stewart taught him to hasten 
slowly. 

It cannot be said that President Grant, in 
selecting Mr. Stewart for this responsible po- 
sition, had any reference to honesty and in- 
tegrity. We do not desire for a moment to 
cast a reflection upon the character of a man 
who is no more among the living. We can 
only refer the inquirer to the thousands of 
business men in New York and elsewhere 
who knew him in all his dealings most per- 
fectly. President Grant also must have 
known him well, and it was, doubtless, on ac- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. IJ 

count of the wonderful flexibility of his con- 
science and intriguing abilities, as well as his 
financial resources, that led to his selection as 
the "one confidential." But fate ordered 
otherwise, and the cool, self-collected, silent 
President awaited the development of com- 
ing events. 



THE RULE OF MONEY. 

After failing to secure the confirmation of 
the money-king of New York as Secretary 
of the Treasury, President Grant seems to 
have cast about him for other powers to ex- 
alt his influence and which would be subservi- 
ent to him in working out his schemes of 
royalty. The railway kings, and monopolists 
of every kind, thinking that they discerned 
the signs of the times, and believing that the 
silent President, being no statesman, but pos- 
sessing wonderful power, could be manipula- 
ted to their own liking, eagerly sought his 
personal favor. This was easily gained, but 
the wily President understood the movements 
of the money-kings, and, without detection, 
turned the final results of their unscrupulous 
monopolistic rascalities to his personal advan- 



1 8 THE GREAT 

tage. But, under his administration, as under 
no other since the foundation of our govern- 
ment, the poor were oppressed, the working 
classes were defrauded, and home industries 
of all kinds were paralyzed. When and 
where in the vast history of the world has 
there been a period of eight years in which 
corruption and oppression flourished more 
grandly than during the administration of 
President Grant? Monopolies and corrupt 
rings ruled the people with a rod of iron; 
judges and legislators stood ready to sell 
themselves to any moneyed interest for a pal- 
try sum ; low, degraded, dishonest sots held 
many of the highest positions which the gov- 
ernment could award ; and during his reign 
the seeds were sown that have, within the 
past few years, developed into such expen- 
sive and destructive strikes among the labor- 
ing classes all over our land. 

Vast numbers of the appointees of Presi- 
dent Grant were vile, dishonest men, but the 
number removed for dishonesty may be 
counted on your fingers. All kinds of cor- 
ruption seemed to pass at par, and the silent 
President upbraided it not lest he should of- 
fend his principal constituency. His admin- 
istration may be truthfully characterized a:* 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I9 

"The Rule of Money." Money secured 
positions, money retained positions, and 
money readily covered every form of op- 
pression and fraud. They who opened 
their purses and gave the most abundantly 
to defray the expenses of the election cam- 
oaierns met with the most favorable re- 

v O 

ceptions by the Chief Executive. Pierrepont, 
it is said, gave $25,000 towards defraying 
the expenses of the President's second elec- 
tion, and was made Attorney General as a 
reward, and subsequently sent as Minister to 
England. 

Of this ambitious millionaire, this royal- 
ty-loving Pierrepont, we shall have more 
to say. 



THIRD TERM ASPIRATIONS. 

Before the close of the second term of 
President Grant's administration, "Grantism" 
had become an established ism. There were 
thousands of men — cultured men. — who would 
have willingly given their all for the propa- 
gation of that ism and the aggrandizement 
of the great Executive. There were, how- 
ever, operating forces of a contra nature, and 



20 THE GREAT 

these saving forces combined served to keep 
the ambitious aspirant in check. 

Men talk of President Grant's unwillingness 
to have accepted a " Third Term." Why, 
sirs, never did man breathe the breath of life 
who was more anxious for position than was 
this man for a " Third Term." His calm, stoi- 
cal nature, however, enabled him to accept 
the situation without betraying his anxiety. 

Before the meeting of the national nom- 
inating convention in Cincinnati, his votaries 
supposed that their plans were thoroughly 
perfected to insure the nomination of their 
chief. 'Tis very true that his name did not 
appear before the convention ; but this was 
a statesmanly mansaeuvre. A large number 
of candidates, most of whom were friendly 
to him, were proposed, thinking that none of 
these could obtain the requisite number of 
votes to secure the nomination, and that, as a 
compromise measure, President Grant's name 
would be brought forward. 

This scheme would have met with eminent 
success had it not been for the national rep- 
utation and popularity of that great states- 
man from Maine, James G. Blaine. His de- 
termination to remain true to principle and 
not to quit the contest just to subserve the 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 21 

interests of President Grant, which would 
have been in opposition to the expressed 
wish of his constituency, thwarted all their 
plans and a different compromise was neces- 
sary, which resulted in the nomination of 
Rutherford B. Hayes. 

With becoming royal modesty President 
Grant and his friends retired to await an- 
other opportunity for the " Man of Destiny " 
to clamber up the dizzy heights of supreme 
power, to seize the scepter of American do- 
minion. 



GRANT'S ROYAL ASPIRATIONS. 

Although but few words have fallen from 
the lips of General Grant that would indicate 
his aspirations throneward, the multiplied 
startling events of the last twelve years are 
sufficient to show every thoughtful observer 
that he is indeed ambitious, and that his love 
for Republicanism is being superseded by 
decided royal aspirations. 

Ambition can banish the pure and holy 
principles of Republicanism from the heart. 
Was not Napoleon Bonaparte an ardent Re- 
publican of a Republic he himself estab- 



22 THE GREAT 

lished ? He was elected chief executive ; but 
inordinate ambition led him to abandon his 
idol-principles and fight his way to impe- 
rial honors. Ulysses S. Grant is a man as was 
Napoleon, and heir to all such ambitions, and 
with the power which he possesses over the 
American people, which is still growing, with 
the moneyed interest of the entire land to aid 
his ambitious enterprises, and with the sol- 
diery of the nation, whose entire confidence 
he still retains, to fight wherever and when- 
ever he commands, and with every crowned 
head in Europe to help — tell me not that 
there is no danger. Wily, energetic, deter- 
mined ; his eye seems fixed upon a crown 
and a throne in our very midst, and have 
them he will or die in the struc^e. 

To illustrate the determined, dictatorial 
spirit of this ambitious chieftain, we have but 
to note the events which followed the Presi- 
dential election of 1876. When the returns 
began to appear so contradictory that it was 
evident that difficulties would arise, in deter- 
mining whether Samuel J. Tilden or Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes had been elected to the Presi- 
dential chair, he sent prominent partisans 
from the North to the doubtful States of the 
South "to secure a fair count," as it was ex- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 23 

pressed. The wise, shrewd President well 
knew that the presence of these men would, 
probably, provoke an animated contest 
which he would be able to manipulate in 
such a manner that his dictatorial reign could 
be indefinitely prolonged. 

This plan of the President was rather trans- 
parent, and patriotic Senators of both parties 
saw the necessity for immediate action and 
quickly sprang to the rescue of the country. 

After much earnest discussion an Electoral 
Commission was established, which was 
thought to be the very best manner of 
adjusting the difficulties. These commis- 
sioners, fifteen in number, proceeded to do 
what they conceived to be their duty; but 
the result was by no means satisfactory. The 
matter was, however, in a manner adjusted — 
eight commissioners reported in favor of 
Rutherford B. Hayes, and seven in favor of 
Samuel J. Tilden. Congress afterward ac- 
cepted the report of the majority, and Mr- 
Hayes was declared elected. 

During this entire investigation President 
Grant's "delegation of citizens" continued 
to annoy the people, sowing the seeds of mis- 
understanding and insurrection wherever they 
went. The entire South was aroused, and 



24 THE GREAT 

nothing saved us from another civil war but 
the wisdom and determination of a few great- 
hearted, patriotic Senators of both parties, 
who proved equal to the emergency. 

President Grant was a man of war. His 
education was only to fit him for the field of 
battle. And never could he feel contended 
and thoroughly in his own element unless the 
rattling of musketry, the explosion of shell 
and terrible carnage abounded on every side. 
Could he have succeeded in instigating an- 
other rebellion without appearing on the 
scene as the instigator, he would have been 
perfectly content; and then. through carnage 
and death he could have gone from victory 
to victory, and have developed out of the 
wreck of our loved Republic an Absolute 
Monarchy, and amid the acclaim of a mighty 
army — a nation of soldiers — have received 
Imperial honors. Trust him not, loyal 
countrymen. Ulysses S. Grant has ambi- 
tions that know no curbing, and royal aspira- 
tions that cannot be smothered. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 2$ 

ROYAL PLANS. 

On the 4th day of March, 1876, President 
Grant took up his line of march from the 
White House to make way for his successor, 
President Hayes. It was no doubt with a 
heavy heart and drooping spirits that this 
hero of a hundred battle-fields yielded to the 
expressed wish of the American people, and 
passed from the highest position they could 
grant to the quiet walks of citizenship. What 
contending emotions must have struggled for 
mastery in his bosom ! The fires of deter- 
mined resistance would at one moment burn 
furiously; the wrath of his terrible nature 
would flush his cheeks, and supreme indigna- 
tion hold queenly court upon his stern coun- 
tenance. His characteristic discretion and 
deliberate judgment, however, won the vic- 
tory, and peaceably he retired to scan new 
plans for future operations. 

Well did he consider the situation ; care- 
fully did he count his numbers, and note the 
influence and wealth that could immediately 
be called to his assistance when the time 
should come for him to strike for a royal 
crown. Considering the strange events of 
the past two years, is it not reasonable for us 



26 THE GREAT 

to presume that, during the year which imme- 
diately followed his retirement from the Pres- 
idential chair, the plans and purposes of the 
coming royal government were in outline, at 
least, arranged, his royal cabinet prospect- 
ively chosen, his earlships and dukeships 
prospectively distributed, and his under-rul- 
ers designated? 

The ex-President could not, however, find 
sufficient assistance in the land of the (ree to 
enable him to gain the results so greatly de- 
sired, and so an extended journey to foreign 
lands was speedily arranged. Well did he 
know that the eyes of all Kings and Emperors 
were turned upon him as their chief hope for 
the destruction of American Republicanism 
and the establishment of Monarchy. And 
well did he know that royal blood would re- 
joice in his ambition and aid him in every 
way to attain the desire of his heart. 

Very often within the last half-dozen years 
have the English people — those high in 
authority — said that the late American civil 
war would eventually result in the develop- 
ment of some ambitious chieftain who would 
lead the people on and on from Democracy 
to Royalty. 

"Straws show which way the wind blows," 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 2"J 

and ex-President Grant undoubtedly imag- 
ined that he saw in all these things the point- 
ing of fortune's fingers in the direction in 
which he was traveling. He desired to be 
among the people who were longing for his 
royal success. He wanted to court the favor 
of Kings and potentates; he wanted to learn 
the customs of courts and royal palaces, and 
so no time was lost in the completion of ar- 
rangements for this wonderful journey. 



THE FIVE GREAT EMPIRES. 

For many years the signs of the times 
have indicated that mankind will not much 
longer tolerate mixed governments. Shrewd 
diplomats have repeatedly said that Europe 
and America must very soon have but one 
form of government. The conflict has long 
been raging between Republicanism and 
Kingly rule, and one must be the victim of 
the other. America seems to be the "bone 
of contention." Let Republicanism be driven 
from our shores, and Kingly rule would have 
nothing with which to contend. 

The present transpiring events of the 
world go to show that all countries will, at 



28 THE GREAT 

an early day, be constituent parts of five 
great Empires — the English Empire, the Ger- 
man Empire, the Russian Empire, the Chinese 
Empire, the American Empire. England, 
Germany and Russia are closely allied to 
each other bv intermarriages amonsf their no- 
bles and rulers. Like three greedy brothers 
they quarrel with each other, each striving to 
obtain the largest patrimony ; out disputes 
are all ended when their mutual family inter- 
ests are threatened. 

Three empires of the Eastern continent 
are gaining strength day by day. Russia is 
extending her borders, and her conquests 
will not have an end until poor, sick Turkey 
shall have yielded, and the proud banner of 
tne Czar waves triumphantly from the turrets 
of every mosque in Constantinople. What 
shall be the boundary of the thrifty, ever-ag- 
gressive German Empire, no prophet can fore- 
see. Where Spain and France, and Italy and 
the miner kingdoms and republics shall go, 
no man can tell ; but their fate is sealed and 
their completed history can never be writ- 
ten. 

The English Empire is growing and gather- 
ing strength with the revolving years. The 
sun forever shines upon her territory; her 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 29 

powers are felt in every clime; her ships of 
merchandise and men-of-war plow all waters, 
and her citizens are honored by all govern- 
ments. 

Another has so well portrayed the vastness 
of this great people, that we reproduce the 
article just as it appeared : 

" The extent of the British Empire as an 
element of positive strength is rarely appre- 
ciated upon this side of the Atlantic. Super- 
ficial writers find it far easier to scribble 
thoughtless nonsense about the dispersion of 
the British troops in the possessions of the 
Empire in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, 
than to make any attempt to appreciate its 
full significance. Science, which in modern 
times has brought about such vast changes 
in every department of human energy, has 
in fact served no cause more materially than 
the rapid consolidation of British strength. 
The telegraph and the railway and the steam- 
ship have, for all practical purposes, annihila- 
ted the obstacles of place and time for Im- 
perial rule fully as much as they have done 
so for commerce. The several dependencies 
and colonies of England are now far more 
nearly one with her, not merely in sentiment, 
but in the ability to give and receive mutual 



30 THE GREAT 

aid, than they ever were before at any period 
of her history. Even the late slaughter of 
Col. Glynn's column by the Zulus, near the 
Tugela river, furnished an opportunity for an 
excellent illustration of the truth of this po- 
sition. There is no direct telegraphic com- 
munication between the Cape Colonies and 
London, but no sooner was the news known 
in Great Britain than it flashed on to Lord 
Lytton, at Lahore, and the Governor of Cey- 
lon, at Colombo, and offers of troops were at 
once received from both these points. In 
spite of the demands of the Afghan cam- 
paign the Viceroy of India proposed to de- 
spatch ten thousand troops at once to Natal, 
and a whole regiment of British regulars has 
already sailed from Ceylon. It was not 
thought necessary to accept Lord Lytton's 
proposal, but the fact that it was made and 
could have been promptly carried into effect, 
proves not merely the essential unity, but the 
thorough harmony of action in all component 
members of the Empire upon which the sun 
never sets. 

" The navy, too, is even more ubiquitous 
than the army. There is scarcely a coast or 
a harbor upon the earth's surface to which a 
British vessel cannot be ordered at the very 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 3 I 

first signs of an emergency, and it is fortu- 
nate for ourselves as well as our cousins that 
it is so. When citizens of the United States 
were seized by the Spaniards and killed in the 
Virginius affair, it was a British cruiser that 
appeared first upon the scene and put a stop 
to further bloodshed. But the other day, 
when the lives of our settlers in Sitka, on 
Baranof Island, Alaska, were threatened by 
the wild Indians, an appeal was made to Vic- 
toria, British Columbia, for assistance, and 
the Osprey sailed under the British flag to 
save American citizens. This is the plain 
truth, patent to the eyes of the whole world, 
and it is useless to mince matters. While our 
own navy, by our abominable mismanagement, 
has decreased until it is now little better than 
a collection of unseaworthy hulls, the British 
has vastly increased, until it is more supreme 
overall other navies possible to be combined 
than ever. The irresponsible scribblers who 
are talking so glibly about the decline of 
Great Britain are either fools or worse." 

This same great British Empire is putting 
forth every effort to sow the seeds of Kingly 
rule in our very midst. Strenuous efforts 
are being made to introduce customs of roy- 
alty among our people. Dignataries of no 



32 THE GREAT 

less pretensions than the Marquis of Lome 
and Princess Louise represent her Majesty's 
government in the rule of the British Pro- 
vinces of North America. Canada is now 
filled as never before with royalty. Royal 
entertainments are being given almost daily, 
entirely unlike and far surpassing anything 
of the kind ever before known upon this 
continent. All this, it is hoped, will m.ike 
converts to a Monarchial form of govern- 
ment in' the United States. The report is 
now current that the Duke of Edinburg, the 
Queen's favorite son, will soon supersede the 
Marquis of Lome in the government of the 
British possessions of North America, and 
this but indicates the intense interest which 
the English people really have in the solution 
of the question of royalty on our shores. 

But why this wonderful, suddenly-sprung 
interest manifested by England and the 
other great powers in solving the question of 
America's future form of government? Be- 
cause it is an acknowledged fact that if the 
United States continue to maintain success- 
fully a Republican form of government, all 
Europe will, at no distant day, be Republican. 
" All that a man hath will he give for his 
life," and it is equally true that all a king 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 33 

hath will he give to save his crown. Far- 
seeing royal diplomats have discerned the 
danger, and safeguards are being thrown in 
every direction to save Monarchial institu- 
tions and the gilded bands of royalty. 

England has long been laboring to secure 
an alliance with all English speaking nations. 
Thus far, however, her overtures to the Uni- 
ted States have been spurned, thanks to the 
wholesome influence of the old Monroe doc- 
trine. Let an Empire arise in our midst, and 
the case will be very different, and hence the 
skillful maneuvering of the English aristoc- 
racy to bring forth such results. 

These words of warning may seem to some 
like school-boy rhetoric ; but we ask them to 
stop and candidly consider. Note the ele- 
ments that are conspiring against our free- 
dom. All European royalty is in intrigue 
with the " Man of Destiny," and in our own 
land there are tens of thousands of people 
who are dazzled by the brightness of pros- 
pective Aristocracy, and are lured on by the 
hope of being lifted away from the " com- 
mon herd," as they see fit to call the work- 
ing men of our country. These fanciful 
dreamers cannot see, or do not care to see the 
terrible burdens that would be placed upon 

2 



34 THE GREAT 

the masses by the enormous expense of sup- 
porting a titled aristocracy, and an Imperial 
government. Their labors and influence, 
however, are destructive to our civil and re- 
ligious liberty, and bring dangers closer every 
day. 

From Blackivood's Magazine we copy the 
following article, which, to say the least, is 
very truthfully suggestive : 

"Our American Aristocracy. — In all 
the larger cities of the United States there is 
a class which openly calls itself, and is open- 
ly called by others, the aristocracy ; and the 
more modern members of it are endeavoring 
as much as possible to adopt the manners 
and customs of aristocracies in other coun- 
tries, to contract matrimonial alliances with 
them, and to bow down before them. They 
put their servants into livery and emblazon 
the panels of their carriages with heraldic 
devices in which coronets and other insignia 
of nobility, and even of royalty are visible. 

" Some have purchased property abroad and 
call themselves by its well-sounding foreign 
name ; others have adopted the names of 
noble families, and some have gone even so 
far as to assume foreign titles, which they use 
when abroad, and with the crests and armo- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 35 

rial bearings of which even at home they 
stamp their note paper and decorate their 
dinner menus. 

" The demand has become so extended in 
this direction that two heralds' offices have 
actually been opened in a fashionable part of 
New York to meet it, where coats-of-arms, 
crests and mottoes may be obtained to suit 
the name, taste, rank and pedigree of the 
purchaser." 

We tell you, fellow-countrymen, dangers 
are thickening every hour, and if you would 
avoid the peasant's yoke and poverty's lot, 

" Strike for your altars and your fires ! 
Strike for the green graves of your sires ! 
God and your native land !" 

In this strike, to avoid the terrible conse- 
quences of an aristocratic government, we 
must be "wise as serpents and harmless 
as doves." Every riotous strike among la- 
borers, every foolish inflammatory speech, 
whether delivered by a foreigner, ignorant of 
the fundamental principles of our govern- 
ment, and the powers of our educational 
system, or by one of our own citizens, tend 
to strengthen the desire in every patriotic 
heart for a form of government stronger 
than a Republic, that such incendiary ha- 



36 THE GREAT 

rangues and wanton tramplings upon personal 
rights might be speedily crushed. Our 
present policy in dealing with the South, 
and the disgustful wranglings of our Rep- 
resentatives in the legislative halls at Wash- 
ington, and the useless expenditure of the 
peoples' money, all tend to create a gigantic 
revolution in our country. Little do our 
politicians, who are constantly in a whirlpool 
of excitement, know of the feelings of the 
peace-loving citizens with whom they are 
coming in contact daily. All this madden- 
ing political confusion cannot do other- 
wise than incite a tremendous revolu- 
tion throughout our entire land. It is black- 
ening the pinions of the white dove of 
peace, and crippling the flight of our favor- 
ite bird of liberty. Revolution is at our 
door, and when our "Military Chieftain" 
shall return from foreign shores he will 
find a nation of willing, obedient subjects if 
we do not cease our contemptible wrang- 
lings and restorereason to her native throne. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. $7 

IMPERIAL POLICY. 

The news of the intended tour of ex-Pres- 
ident Grant was received across the great 
ocean with hearty expressions of delight, 
and Prime Ministers, Kings and Emperors 
seemed to vie with each other in extending 
to the great American Chief hearty congrat- 
ulations and Imperial recognitions. He was 
taken by the nobles to the courts of royalty 
that he might learn all their ways and be 
prepared to sit in kingly grace upon his own 
throne when Fortune should decree that the 
time had come. 

A man in the position of the ex-Pres- 
ident can always find available tools with 
which to work. When he wanted royal rec- 
ognition in England he had but to nod his 
stately head, and Minister Pierrepont ran hith- 
er and thither, most willingly to do his bid- 
ding. Pierrepont claimed that royal blood 
flowed through his veins, on which account 
he seemed to base his demands that his lord 
and master should have royal receptions 
while visiting the domains of the Queen. 
This, on the part of Pierrepont, was altogether 
unnecessary, for all the English nobility stood 
with open arms to receive him. Never be- 



38 THE GREAT 

fore was an American citizen treated with, 
such distinction. And it mattered not where 
he went throughout the old world, he met 
with like receptions. 

American patriots have been watching 
with amazement the moving of the waters. 
Our own ministers to the various countries, 
which the ex-President has visited had been 
instructed by our government to leave no 
stone unturned that would bring the Chief 
into royal notice. And all these things con- 
spiring together have produced results so 
dazzling in brightness and wonderful in pro- 
portions that the world has been aroused 
in perfect astonishment. In this man Grant, 
Queen Victoria, Beaconsfield, the Emperor 
and Prime Minister of Germany, and the 
Czar of Russia have discerned the " Man 
of Destiny," and if influence and unlimited 
wealth can place him upon a throne in our 
midst, there he will go, and that at an early 
day. 



A LITTLE FRENCH POLICY. 

It is well known that McMahon, the great 
French diplomat, is an ardent friend to the 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 



39 



B maparte Dynasty. Great would be the 
desire of his heart to see the Bonaparte 
family reinstated and a throne again estab- 
lished in France, and it is no more than rea- 
sonable for us to presume that he would be 
eminently friendly to our " Military Chief- 
tain " when he set foot upon royal shores to 
receive royal leceptions and learn royal ways. 

The time which the ex-President had ar- 
ranged for his visit to France would not have 
been an auspicious one for French Imperial- 
ism, seeing that the populace regarded him 
as a great Republican leader, and the elec- 
tion, involving vital interests of the Bonaparte 
Dynasty and Republicanism, was close at 
hand. The presence of so great a leader 
from so great a Republic as the United 
States, at such a time, would, doubtless, have 
done much to create enthusiasm on the side 
of Republicanism, and Imperial schemes 
would have been defeated. 

McMahon well knew that this would be 
the result, and, like a shrewd statesman, he 
put forth his might to avert the calamity. 
In all kindness he requested ex-President 
Grant to defer his visit until the election 
should have taken place, and our adroit ex- 
Executive complied with his request, that he 



40 THE GREAT 

might aid the Bonapartists at the expense of 
French Democracy. 

My countrymen, pause and consider! 
Which did — which does Mr. Grant love the 
most; Republicanism or Imperial honors, 
either in France or America? 



OFFICIAL RECOGNITION. 

Recognizing the power of General Grant, 
perhaps fearing that power, and desiring to 
secure his good will at all hazards, Secretary 
Evarts, of course under the instruction of 
President Hayes, on May 23, 1877, wrote a 
letter addressed to the Diplomatic and Con- 
sular officers of the United States, serving in 
every country that the ex-President expected 
to visit. This letter, instructing these officers 
to see to it that the great General receive 
every possible attention and honor, is, by no 
means, meaningless. We append a copy of 
the letter, and from it all intelligent readers 
can draw their own inferences : 



american empire. 4 1 

Department of State. 1 
Washington, May 23, 1877. j 

To the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the 
United States : 

Gentlemen : — General Ulysses S. Grant, 
the late President of the United States, sail- 
ed from Philadelphia on the 17th inst., for 
Liverpool. The route and extent of his 
travels, as well as the duration of his sojourn 
abroad, were alike undetermined at the time 
of his departure, the object of his journey 
being to secure a few months of rest and re- 
creation after sixteen years of unremitting 
and devoted labors in the military and civil 
service of his country. 

The enthusiastic manifestation of popular 
regard and esteem for General Grant, shown 
by the people in all parts of the country that 
he has visited since his retirement from offi- 
cial life, and attending his every appearance 
in public, up to the moment of his departure 
to Europe, indicate beyond question the 
high place he holds in the grateful affections 
ot his countrymen. 

Sharing in the largest measure this gen- 
eral public sentiment, and at the same time 
expressing the wishes of the President, I de- 
sire to invite the aid of the Diplomatic and 
Consular officers of the Government to make 
his journey a pleasant one, should he visit 
their ports. I feel already assured that you 
will find patriotic pleasure in anticipating the 



42 THE GREAT 

wishes of the Department by showing him 
that attention and consideration which is due 
from every officer of the Government to a 
citizen of the Republic so signally distin- 
guished both in official service and individ- 
ual renown. 

I am, gentlemen, 

Your obedient servant, 

Wm, M. Evarts. 



GRANT'S DEPARTURE. 

On the 17th day of May, 1877, ex-Presi- 
dent Grant, with his party of relatives and 
friends, was to sail from his native land to 
visit the grandest Imperial court-schools of 
the world. On the morning of that day they 
breakfasted with Governor Hartranft in the 
city of Philadelphia. 

The presence of such a man under such 
circumstances raised the staid old Quaker 
City to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. A 
multitude of serenaders surrounded him, 
sending forth grand choruses of praise while 
he partook of his farewell meal. The great 
thoroughfares were tastefully and profusely 
decorated, and prolonged cheers greeted him 
wherever he went. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 43 

President Hayes, who really owed his nom- 
ination to Grant, was not slow in coming for- 
ward to lend a helping hand in honoring his 
distinguished countryman. The U. S. Rev- 
enue Cutter, Hamilton, was most beautifully 
decorated and placed at the disposal of the 
Royal seeking party, and a splendid steamer 
was chartered for their use by the city authori- 
ties of Philadelphia. No American citizen 
ever left his native shore amid such pomp and 
splendid show before. It was natural, however, 
that he should desire to thus leave his own 
country, his object being to create a profound 
sensation when he reached the old world, and 
these honors could not but pave the way to 
the accomplishment of his purposes. 

The final farewells were at last said, and 
the parting huzzahs pealed over the waters, 
and the splendid steamer set sail with its dis- 
tinguished cargo. 

Royalty was already on the alert, and as 
the steamer passed the Russian corvette crui- 
ser she gave the full Royal salute as an hon- 
orable recognition of the illustrious Amer- 
ican Chieftain. 

Concerning the events of this day the 
New York Tribune of May 18, 1877, says: 

" General Grant received the hearty wel- 



44 THE GREAT 

come of his friends at Philadelphia yester- 
day. Nobody doubts but he knows how to 
make friends and keep them. These friends 
were, naturally enough, the politicians whom 
he had obliged." 

The Tribune might have, with truth, also 
remarked that a vast throng of the friends 
who received General Grant so cordially 
were those who expected favors from him in 
the future. 



ARRIVAL AT LIVERPOOL. 

General Grant and party arrived at Liver- 
pool on the 25th day of May, 1877, and were 
received by the Lord Mayor, and at once 
tendered the hospitalities of the city. They 
were taken in the Lord Mayor's carriage 
and escorted through the city amid the great- 
est pomp and splendor of aristocracy. A 
gorgeous banquet was given in their honor 
on the 29th of May, where they were treated 
with imposing consideration. Prior to this 
time, the Prince of Wales had sent the Gen- 
eral an invitation to dine with him. 

General Grant's reputation as an ardent 
worshiper of the " money power," secured 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 45 

for him the unbounded adulation of the mon- 
eyed aristocracy. Royal invitations poured 
in upon him from every side ; not because 
he was the son of a great Republic, but be- 
cause he was an aspirant to a royal crown. 



HONORS IN LONDON. 

On the 31st day of May, 1877, General 
Grant and party reach London. Here Pier- 
repont, the John the Baptist of Grant's impe- 
rial journeyings, had all things in readiness to 
receive them. 

En route to London, the special train 
which carried the party made stops at Man- 
chester and Bedford, that the General might 
receive the hearty congratulations of the no- 
bility. 

Upon their arrival in London, the party 
were carried, in all conceivable pomp, to the 
palatial residence of the Duke of Wellington, 
where they partook of their first London din- t , 
ner. At dinner the Duke remarked that it 
was fitting that he should first dine in Lon- 
don at the Apsly House. 

Upon the day of the General's arrival in 
London the Earl of Beaconsfield sent him an 
invitation to dinner. 



4.6 THE GREAT 

On the 7th of June the " royal party " 
dined with Lord Houghton, and on the same 
day received an invitation to dine with the 
Lord Mayor of London and receive formal- 
ly the freedom of the city, on the 15th of 
June. The day came and the nobility of the 
city assembled to witness the most imposing 
of ceremonies in making an American citi- 
zen a free burgess of an English city. 



A ROYAL PRESENT. 

Upon this noted day, in connection with 
the sumptuous dinner and other tokens of 
high recognition, the authorities of London 
presented General Grant a magnificent gold 
box, emblematic of his English gold theo- 
ries. The New York Tribune gives the fol- 
lowing 

DESCRIPTION OF THE GOLD CASKET 

presented to General Ulysses S. Grant, June 
15th, 1877, with the freedom of the city of 
London, accompanied with a public recep- 
tion and dinner : 

" On the obverse panel is a view of the 
capitol at Washington, and on the right and 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 47 

left are the arms and monograms of the Lord 
Mayor. On the reverse side is a view of the 
entrance to Guild Hall, and an appropriate 
inscription at the end. There are, also, two 
engraved figures, finely modeled and chased, 
representing the city of London, and the 
United States, and bearing their respective 
shields, the latter in rich enamel. At the 
corners are double columns laurel-wreathed 
with corn and cotton, and above the corners 
is a cornucopia, emblematic of the plenty 
and prosperity of the United States. The 
rose, shamrock and thistle are also introduced. 
The cover is surrounded with a representa- 
tion of the arms of the city of London. 
The casket is supported by American eagles, 
modeled and carved in gold ; the whole 
standing on a velvet cushion, which is deco- 
rated with stars and stripes." 



ROYAL HONORS THICKEN. 

On the i6thof June, General Grant dined 
with the Prince of Wales at Kensington Pal- 
ace. This was a strictly private affair, to 
whom none but the " confidential circle " 
were invited. Only Princess Louise, the 



48 THE GREAT 

Marquis of Lome, and a very few others 
were present, and so there was an excellent 
opportunity to make any private arrange- 
ments that might be desirable, looking to- 
ward the establishment of a royal throne on 
the free soil of our own loved Columbia. 

On the 1 8th the General dined with the 
Reform Club, Earl Granville presiding. 

On the 20th, he dined with the Marquis of 
Ripon. 

On the 226. he attended the concert and 
ball of the Queen at Buckingham Palace. 

On the 23d he again dined with the Prince 
Imperial. At this dinner were present near- 
ly everybody in London who represented roy- 
alty, either at home or abroad, excepting the 
Queen ; but no other American was invited. 
The Nezv York Tribune s special correspondent 
gave the following description of the table 
at the banquet given in honor of General 
Grant and Mrs. Grant, on the 23d of June, 
1877. 



ROYAL RANK ACCORDED HIM. 

" I don't remember to have seen on any 
former occasion, a paragraph so curiously 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 49 

framed as one that appeared in the papers 
here yesterday morning, in which was de- 
scribed the dinner given the evening before 
in honor of General Grant and Mrs. Grant. 
No doubt you have already published some 
account of this festival. Did it include the 
plan of the table? If it did, were you, or 
were you not, led to inquire whether it is usual 
to state in the newspapers the order in which 
the guests at a banquet take their places ? Did 
you remark that only two ladies, Mrs. Grant 
and Mrs. Pierrepont, were present? Did you 
take in the full significance of the fact that 
the hostess sat on the left of the Prince of 
Wales, General Grant sitting on the right? 
Did you make out why Mrs. Grant sat oppo- 
site the Prince at the other end of the table, 
with the Duke of Richmond on her ri^ht and 
Mr. Pierrepont, (I beg Mr. Pierrepont's par- 
don, the United States Minister,) on her 
left? These are conundrums to which I do 
not pretend to give an answer, but I suppose 
the offering of a suitable prize would bring 
in solutions to the various problems involved. 
Last night the General yielded precedence to 
nobody but the Prince Royal himself. There 
were present no less than six ambassadors, 
including those of Germany, France, Aus- 
3 



50 THE GREAT 

tria, Russia, Spain and Italy; there were 
four dukes; there were three marquises; 
there were five earls ; then the Lord Chan- 
cellor, and other lesser dignitaries entitled to 
go before General Grant ; but they all had 
to give way. The ambassadors, as a rule, 
give way to no one but the royal family. Mr. 
Pierrepont had, however, induced them to 
recognize the ex-President as equal to an 
ex-King. 

" Certainly Mr. Pierrepont would not have 
been guilty of the discourtesy of asking peo- 
ple to dine and treating them with rudeness, 
and yet nothing like this table arrangement 
has happened within the memory of man. 

" Perhaps you may guess why the arrange- 
ment of this table was advertised in the news- 
papers. Still some of my conundrums re- 
main, and must remain unanswered as far as 
I am concerned. I observe, for instance, that 
the Prince of Wales was attended by Major 
General Sir Bryton Probyn ; but I find no 
record of any attendance upon General 
Grant. Where was Gen. Badeau, his aide-de- 
camp ? This is the first time that General 
Grant has appeared without Gen. Badeau, and 
and this was the occasion when, if ever, the 
services of an aide-de-camp might have con- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 5 I 

tributed to the general splendor of the occa- 
sion. Then why the Duke of Richmond 
was put on Mrs. Grant's right, while the six 
ambassadors sat lower down, is a question 
that gives rise to anxiety. The world is wait- 
ing to be told for what reason the rule that 
raises the ambassador of a barbarous nation 
like Turkey above the greatest nobleman of 
a civilized nation should be broken in favor 
of the Duke of Richmond." 

No wonder that this observant correspon- 
dent of the Tribune says that the placings at 
this table are conundrums, unsolvable ; no 
wonder that he says that some of these 
things give rise to anxiety, and that the world 
is waiting for a solution of them. All dark 
caverns have a thread, which, if followed, 
will lead to the open day. There is no fin 
but there is water in which to swim ; there 
are no feet but there is ground to tread ; no 
wing but there is air to float upon. Every 
effect must have its own adequate cause, and , 
such people assembled under such circum- ' 
stances, do not do things that are entirely 
meaningless. If we will, therefore, reason 
by analogy we cannot err in the moral of this 
table arrangement. There is but one thread 
of solution. Take that and follow it, and it 



52 THE GREAT 

leads to open light, just as surely as the 
needle points toward the north pole. 



THE ENTIRE AFFAIR PRE-AR- 
RANGED. 

Pierrepont, with all his boast of royal blood, 
seldom thinks for himself. He is, and has 
long been, the mere tool of the wily, far-see- 
ing General, who discerned the end from the 
beginning. It is highly probable that the 
arrangement of the sittings at this royal table 
on this royal occasion, was as thoroughly un- 
derstood by Queen Victoria and the Earl of 
Beaconsfield, as by General Grant himself. 
You need not tell me that the ambassadors 
of these mighty governments would have 
given place to General Grant, had it not been 
by positive directions from the " powers that 
be." 

Please note carefully the following stereo- 
typed arrangements of the sittings of guests 
on the occasion of all royal receptions that 
have been given. At the head of the table 
sits the King, Prince Imperial, or the one 
highest in authority among the guests. On 
his right is placed the next in rank, and so 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 53 

on to ill 2 foot of the table. Foreign ambas- 
sadors never give place to visitors, unless 
those visitors be heirs to thrones. On this 
special occasion who sits next to the Prince 
Imperial, above all ambassadors, but Ulysses 
S. Grant, thus being recognized as heir to the 
throne of the Great American Empire. 

At the opposite end of the table, facing 
the Prince Imperial, the stereotyped place 
for the sitting of the Empress, sits Mrs. 
Grant, the recognized Empress of the Em- 
pire of the West, now in the formative stage. 
To her right we do not find an ambassador. 
None other sits there than the Duke of 
Richmond, and, though it may seem wonder- 
fully strange that such is the case, it cannot 
be otherwise than that this man is thus re- 
cognized as a coming ruler in America, infer- 
ior to none but General Grant himself. 

This reception, with all its appointments, 
was a highly typical one, foreshadowing the 
unyielding determination of Imperialists to 
shake the very foundations of our free gov- 
ernment, to destroy from among us the pure 
and holy principles of Republicanism, for 
which our fathers fought and gave their lives 
to establish in this "land of the free, and 
home of the brave," a monarchy of the great- 



54 THE GREAT 

est strength under the rule of the Napoleon. 
of America. 



WHERE THE DANGER LIES. 

We are in danger, and the more so be- 
cause we feel that we are secure. In the his- 
tory of the past no people ever believed that 
the institutions of their country were in dan- 
ger. Nay, until the gory flag of despotism 
was floating in their very midst, could they 
discern the situation. The Jews thought 
Jerusalem was safe, until the Roman army 
had really battered down her walls, and de- 
stroyed her holy temple. Republican Rome 
was resting in a false feeling of security. 
The people and Brutus and all the Senators 
"would die first," or would stab a Caesar, 
who was ambitious. But the revolution 
came when least expected. 

The French people who flourished under 
the first Bonaparte, declared that France 
would alwaysbe Republican. Did not Napo- 
leon risk all because he loved Republican- 
ism ? Certainly he would not tolerate a 
monarchy. But what was the result ? 

General Ulysses S. Grant is a man, as was 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 55 

Napoleon, and with the royalty of the entire 
old world, as well as the moneyed interests 
of the new, to back him, what my we expect 
if he is again placed in power ? 



THE MONEYED MEN CALL FOR A 
MONARCHY. 
The great Bonanza miner of California 
said more than a year ago, " I will give $100,- 

000 to see General Grant again President, 

1 will do it on the score of economy. We 
would then have a strong government, and 
my property would be safe. It would pay 
me to do as I propose." Well does this 
shrewd millionaire, the largest capitalist on 
the continent, know what would be the re- 
sult if General Grant were again elected to 
the Presidency; and if money will place him 
there, mark the statement well, the year 1880 
will mark the beginning of the downfall of 
American Republicanism, and the establish- 
ment of a " strong government." 



BUSINESS MEN CALL FOR A MON- 
ARCHY. 

There are also vast numbers of business 



56 THE GREAT 

men in our very midst, who, seeing matters 
in a false light, are at heart desiring a form of 
government more powerful than that of a Re- 
public. The great strikes of 1877, and of later 
years, the scenes of carnage which are con- 
stantly being enacted in the South and else- 
where, the puny insurrections which are fre- 
quently springing up in our very midst, the 
tendency of the many to disregard authority, 
all of which have seemingly failed to be prop- 
erly controlled by a Republican government 
on account of its so-called weaknesses, have 
induced very many, who have always been 
staunch advocates of Republicanism, to re- 
ceive, with much favor, the idea of the found- 
ing of some other kind of a government, that 
could deal directly with offenders. We can- 
not now give the usual argument offered on 
either side of this question, but in the light 
of the experience of other nations that have 
passed through all these phases, from Re- 
publicanism to despotism, we give warning 
that the change is a dangerous one to con- 
template, and we call upon the patriots of 
America to guard their liberties while they 
may, for the iron heel of despotism once 
placed is exceedingly difficult to remove. 
But we are diverging. We must return 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 57 

to the historical sketching of the great man 
in the great city of London. 



THE HONORS OF ONE DAY. 

About the time of the noted dinner with 
the Prince Imperial, honors were crowding 
upon General Grant too thick to be compre- 
hended. G. W. Smalley, regular correspon- 
dent of the New York Tribune, under date of 
June 16, 1877, writes: 

" Gen. Grant is, all the world agrees, a 
pretty good soldier, but I am not sure that he 
has not mistaken his vocation after all. I am 
not sure that he was not born to make 
speeches on occasions of ceremony and neat 
little replies to toasts at great dinners, and 
mots at all suitable opportunities. It hap- 
pened — I say it modestly — that I was a good 
deal in his company yesterday. I doubt 
whether anybody else has heard General 
Grant make three speeches in one day. 

"The first was a somewhat elaborate ad- 
dress in the Library of Guild Hall, in re- 
sponse to the still more elaborate address of 
the Chamberlain in offering him the freedom 
of the city of London. It was thoroughly 



58 THE GREAT 

well done in manner and matter and I shall 
refer to it bye and bye. The second response 
was at lunch in the Guild Hall, and was 
simply a gem. It is so clumsily reported in 
the morning papers, that I insert here the 
true version. The Lord Mayor having pro- 
posed, and the guests having drank General 
Grant's health, the General replied in these 
words : 

" ' My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentle- 
men: Habits formed in early life and early 
education, press upon us as we grow older. 
I was brought up to soldier — not to talk. I 
am not aware that I ever fought two battles 
on the same day in the same place, and that 
I should be called upon to make-two speech- 
es on the same day, under the same roof, is 
beyond my understanding. What I do un- 
derstand is that I am much indebted to you 
all for the compliments you have paid me. 
All I can do is to thank my Lord Mayor for 
his kind words, and to thank the citizens of 
Great Britain here present, in the name of 
my country and myself.' 

" I never heard a more perfect speech of 
its kind than that. There is a charm, a fe- 
licity in the turn of one or two of its senten- 
ces that would do credit to the best artist in 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 59 

words. Later in the day, at the quiet and 
almost private dinner at the Crystal Palace, 
Mr. Thomas Hughes asked the company in 
a few words, full of grace and feeling, to drink 
the health of General Grant. Mr. Hughes 
took pains to say that the occasion was not 
formal, and that he did not mean to impose 
on his guest the burden of a reply. General 
Grant sat looking up into Mr. Hughes' face. 
There was a moment's pause, then the Gen- 
eral, slowly screwing himself till he stood 
erect on his feet, said : ' Mr. Hughes, I must, 
none the less, tell you what gratification it 
gives me to hear my health proposed in such 
hearty words by ' Tom Brown of Rugby.' ' 
" I do not know what could be better than 
that. Later in the evening, during the exhi- 
bition of fireworks, General Grant sat silent 
while his own portrait — a capital likeness — 
was being drawn in lines of changing flame 
against the dark background of Buckingham 
Hills. Not a muscle moved. There was not 
a sign of pleasure at the splendid compliment 
paid him, not a movement of recognition for 
the cheers with which the great crowd below 
hailed the portrait ; but when this had burned 
out and the next piece, a sketch of the build- 
ing which crowns the heights above the Po- 



60 THE GREAT 

tomac, was blazing, a slight smile parted the 
General's lips, as he remarked to Lady Ripon, 
who sat next to him, ' They have burnt me 
in effigy, and now they are burning the 
Capitol.' 

" In the way of civic honors, not much is 
now left for General Grant to desire." 



HYPOCRITICAL LONDON. 

Remember London! Remember where 
these strange ovations to the great General 
of America are taking place. Think of what 
London has done for our freedom and our 
advancement as a Republic ! When the fierce 
internal war was raging on our shores, which 
threatened to destroy our national identity, 
London reached out a helping hand to the 
Confederacy, and rendered it all the aid that 
it could under cover. Not that it loved the 
Confederates more than the Federals, but it 
thought the time had come to destroy Amer- 
can Republicanism. That thing it is still 
longing to see accomplished, and it cares not 
whether it is done by civil war, or by the 
usurpations of a Dictator. General Grant, 
an ambitious chieftain, visits London, and 




Lord Beacon sfield, 
Prime Minister of England. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 63 

that hypocritical city would have Americans 
believe that it honors him because he is a 
Republican ; while it really honors him be- 
cause it is convinced that it can use his am- 
bitious longings in the accomplishment of its 
fondly cherished fiendish desires to destroy 
our Government. 

May the good Lord, who has thus far 
guided the destinies of this nation, raise up 
men of great hearts, gigantic intellects and 
clean hands, who will save us from impend- 
ing dangers ! 



A SHREWD ARRANGEMENT. 

On the 1 8th of June, General Grant break- 
fasted with Geo. W. Smalley, the astute cor- 
respondent of the New York Tribune, and it 
is said that nearly every American newspa- 
per and magazine correspondent in Great 
Britain was present. This was, certainly, not 
the least of all indications that General Grant 
is shrewd, and knows how to manage men 
and affairs, that his praises may resound 
throughout the world. Of course the news- 
paper men " wrote him up," and a new impe- 
tus was given to his popularity in America. 



64 THE GREAT 

THAT STRANGE CONFIDENTIAL 
VISIT. 

By previous arrangements, General and 
Mrs. Grant made a strictly private visit to 
Windsor Castle on the 26th of June, for an 
interview with Queen Victoria. According 
to the correspondent of the New York Press, 
General Grant characterized this visit as a 
"confidential" one. 

Without doubt, this was one of the strang- 
est visits of modern times. Let it be remem- 
bered that General and Mrs. Grant were only 
private citizens of the United States, and 
could not be officially received by the Queen 
under any previous ruling of royal courts. 
With these facts before us, the following re- 
port of this visit, taken from the English 
Press of June 27, demands a careful study: 

" General Grant and wife left London last 
night at 5 o'clock for Windsor, and arrived 
at Paddington at 5:35. The Mayor and sev- 
eral other persons were on the platform to 
witness their arrival. The General and Mrs. 
Grant were conveyed in one of her Majesty's 
private carriages to the Castle. They were 
received at the bottom of the staircase by the 
Queen, at the Queen's entrance, and con- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 65 

ducted through the state corridor to the 
White Drawing Room. 

"After a short interview the General and 
his wife were conducted to apartments over 
the Waterloo Gallery, and overlooking the 
'Home' Park. In the evening a grand din- 
ner was given in the Palace in honor of the 
guests, during which the Grenadier Band 
played in the Quadrangle." 

In writing of the royal entertainment — 
exclusive and private — the New York Tri- 
bune 's correspondent says : 

" In his visit to Windsor Castle, General 
Grant saw the Queen for the first time, I sup- 
pose, and sat down to dinner in a circle com- 
posed exclusively of royalty, and of the 
representatives and household retainers of 
royalty. I have heard some details of this re- 
ception, which, however, I omit. I under- 
stand that General Grant considers this visit a 
private one, and good taste forbids that more 
be said about it than what has been printed al- 
ready here in the newspapers." 

What plans were arranged at this "strictly 
private" entertainment, will, probably, never 
be known to the outside world, unless we can 
infer, when we see the dashing attempt made 
to place the General upon an American 
throne. 4 



66 THE GREAT 

ROYAL MILITARY HONORS. 

On the 28th of June, 1877, General Grant 
returned to Liverpool. Here he attended 
a gorgeous dinner party given in his honor 
by some two hundred or more representa- 
tive men of all military and other public 
bodies in the city. He appeared in full mili- 
tary uniform, and was received with great 
enthusiastic demonstrations in the Town Ha!l 
ball room. 



TABLE ARRANGEMENT. 

The order of the sittings at the table on 
the occasion of this military reception is 
worthy of note. The Lord Mayor of the 
city sat at the head of the table, and to his 
right sat our honored " Republican chieftain." 
Next to him sat Sir Henry De Buthe, com- 
mander of the Royal army and forces of the 
North District. After the royal dinner the 
Lord Mayor made a speech highly eulogistic 
of General Grant. He lauded him to the 
skies. He pronounced him one of the 
greatest of generals that ever trod the earth. 
While he thus praised him as a general he 




De Buthe. 
Commander of the Royal Army North England. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 69 

added the sun of brightness to his glory by 
pronouncing him "a still greater statesman." 
Shortly after the London military dinner, 
General Grant visited Sheffield, where he was 
received with honors like those that were 
poured upon him at all other places. He 
was, also, made a free burgess of the city 
of Sheffield. 



DINNER AT MARLBORO' HOUSE. 

On the 2d of July, General Grant attended 
a dinner party given in his honor at the 
Marlboro' House. Those who had the con- 
trol of this dinner knew nothing of the secret 
plans and purposes of royalty in exalting a 
private American citizen to the place of a 
mignty Emperor. When, therefore, the 
guests were seated at the table, the usual or- 
der was observed, and our General found 
himself away dovvn toward the foot of the 
table. With the stereotyped ideas of the 
managers of this entertainment it was im- 
possible for even the titled aristocracy to 
manipulate matters so as to place the Gen- 
eral just where they desired, without making 
explanations, which, at that juncture, would 
have been wholly unsafe. 



JO THE GREAT 

In referring to this dinner, the New York 
Tribune's correspondent writes : " It has 
been Mr. Pierrepont who has placed General 
Grant in the rank he has occupied at all fes- 
tivals made for him." Subsequently, how- 
ever, he admits that part of the time the 
General has been accorded these royal hon- 
ors without the asking. 

Now, Mr. Tribune correspondent, do you 
not know that all the pleadings of Mr. Pierre- 
pont would have the weight of a feather with 
these royal personages, if back of him the 
very head of royalty was not moving to give 
form and character to the whole arrange- 
ment? Every one who understands the ba- 
sis of royal etiquette, knows full well that 
every person who is so honored as to be in- 
vited to partake of royal hospitality, must 
humbly submit, without a question, to its un- 
deviating iron rules of precedence. The 
Marlboro' managers knew nothing but the 
prescribed rule, and they followed it. This 
occasion furnishes us with an opportunity to 
contrast the ordinary with the special arrange- 
ments of the Nobility, and from this contrast, 
by inferential reasonings, we learn, first, that 
Queen Victoria, the Prince Imperial and 
Beaconsfield desired to give General Grant 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. J\ 

a taste of royal honors. Second, they wished 
to heap upon him honors so transcendent in 
brightness that his own people would learn 
to honor him more and more ; until, in fact, 
he should reach the highest pinnacle of great- 
ness in the estimation of Americans, towering 
far above all others of his countrymen, as a 
military chieftain and trustworthy statesman. 
Third, they accorded him such extraordinary 
honors, hoping thereby to please the people 
of the United States and thus secure from 
them, for the English government, new con- 
fidence and esteem. All this, they fondly 
hoped, if not fully believed, would make 
General Grant President of the United States 
in 1880, and they, the most far-seeing diplo- 
mats of the Old World, confidently believed 
the statement to be true, which was made 
some years ago by Frank Blair, the great 
Missouri statesman, that "when General 
Grant re-enters the White House, he will 
never again leave it permanently," but will 
eventually be, not merely military Dictator, 
but the ruler of the Great Empire of North 
America. 



72 THE GREAT 

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 

Diverging for a few moments from the line 
of our historical sketch, we will cast a single 
glance upon the face of the political sky, and 
see if we cannot, partially at least, " discern 
the signs of the times." That many of the 
details of the prospective monarchial govern- 
ment in America, have been arranged already 
in the minds of General Grant and his 
numerous allies in the Old World, is a pre- 
sumption not at all far-fetched. 

While there have been many movements 
which have indicated the probable positions 
which certain noted Americans will occupy, 
it would not be well, at this juncture, to call 
their names into prominence. " Straws show 
which way the wind blows," and the move- 
ments across the waters, as well as on our 
own shores, point with a tolerable degree of 
certainty to the Prime Minister, the Dukes, 
the Earls, the Marquises, the Lords and La- 
dies, who will tread the court of the Ameri- 
can Emperor. A single name in this con- 
nection must, however, suffice. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 73 

ROSCOE CONKLTNG, DUKE OF NEW 

YORK. 

There are strong indications that such is 
intended. General Grant never had a warm- 
er friend, nor a greater admirer than this 
man ; and perhaps there is no American 
who is more anxious for the speedy estab- 
lishment of a "stronger government" than 
he. It will be remembered that on the 16th 
of June, 1877, only a few weeks after Gener- 
al Grant's departure for Europe, Roscoe 
Conkling suddenly left New York, to meet 
his bosom friend and distinguished country- 
man, that he might have a private conference 
with him in England. He could not com- 
municate with him by cablegram, for the inter- 
ests involved in these communications were 
too great to trust to the public in any way ; 
and hence the long journey. 



CONKLING'S VISIT. 

Mr. Conkling also left New York for Eng- 
land with flying colors. His friends were en- 
thusiastic in their expressions of good-will, 



^4 THE GREAT 

and as he passed down the harbor the reve- 
nue cutter, " General Grant," fired the full 
regulation salute, which, to say the least, was 
conduct extraordinary toward a citizen. 

As Mr. Conkling departed from New York, 
in a brief, but very pointed speech, he said: 

" One of the pleasantest incidents of my 
visit aboard will be to thank the English peo- 
ple for their reception of General Grant." 

As this is not a theoretical document, but 
plain facts condensed, we shall not attempt 
to speculate on the purport of this myterious 
visit of Mr. Conkling to England ; but by the 
light of developments already made it is but 
reasonable to suppose that when titles of no- 
bility shall be granted to the honored per- 
sonages who may touch the skirts of the 
mighty American Emperor, Roscoe Conkling 
will tread the courts and wear the distin- 
guished title of "Duke of New York." 



HYPOCRISY PERSONIFIED. 

When General Grant was engaged in the 
terrible war of the rebellion, the English peo- 
ple had no mild, approbative words for him. 
They hoped that he would fail in his various 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 75 

campaigns in what they saw fit to call " That 
bloody and cruel war which he helped to 
wage against a deserving people, struggling 
for independence." The scene changes, how- 
ever, when victory has perched upon his ban- 
ner, and no language is too eulogistic to be 
applied to him. 

At a dinner given at the Astley House, in 
honor of the General, the Duke of Welling- 
ton said : 

"Though England is not now a first-rate 
military power, she has not unlearned her old 
admiration for a good soldier, like the man 
who reduced Fort Donaldson, took the city 
of Vicksburg, carried off the laurels at Chat- 
anooga, reduced Richmond and received the 
surrender of Lee." 



GENERAL GRANT APPROVES PRES- 
IDENT HAYES' SOUTHERN POLICY. 

Just at this point in our history of the won- 
derful man, we leave him amid the dazzling 
glories which surround him in England, that 
we may review some home interests which will 
demonstrate his shrewdness and far-sighted- 
ness. 



j6 THE GREAT 

Every reader of political news well knows 
the policy adopted by President Hayes early 
in his administration touching the Southern 
question. His leniency, and his considera- 
tion lor the wishes of these people seemed to 
have a tendency to draw all Southern hearts 
to him. In view of this policy the Charles- 
ton, S. C, News and Courier (Democratic) 
said : 

"The Southern Democracy will remain 
united. They will be united in defence, not 
of the man, but of the principle. They will 
stand by Mr. Hayes, not because he is Presi- 
dent, but because he is right. In honor they 
can do no less. Mr. Hayes, in his action 
concerning Louisiana and South Carolina, re- 
turned to the paths from which President after 
President has strayed. We cannot, for our 
own sake, nor for the country's sake, allow 
him to be stricken down." 

At that time the influential press of the 
South, almost universally, gave expression 
to a determination to support the President. 
This support did not end with the represen- 
tative Democratic press — the New York Tri- 
bune and other staunch Republican papers 
were recommending it. 

All these things indicated to the traveling, 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. JJ 

wily ex-President that to lose no opportunity 
to increase his popularity at home he must 
speak; and speak he did. 

On the 9th of July, 1S77, a private letter 
was received at Washington from a distin- 
guished officer and personal friend of Gen- 
eral Grant, saying that " General Grant is in 
favor of President Hayes' Southern policy. 
Among his friends he invariably speaks in 
support of Mr. Hayes, and approves and de- 
fends his policy." 



GRANT'S PROPHETIC VISION. 

Even shrewd men are very often deceived 
by appearances; but General Grant's intui- 
tive perception and ability to correctly read 
the future by the light of the past and pres- 
ent is so wonderful that he seldom errs in his 
conclusions. 

At a glance he saw, as if by inspiration, 
the result of removing all restraint from the 
South. Well did he know that by favoring this 
policy he would make himself popular, even 
with the soldiery he once overcame in battle. 
He knew, also, that this policy would make 
a "united South," and indirectly aid in mak- 



78 THE GREAT 

ing a "united North," each arrayed against 
the other, and this would afford him an op- 
portunity to strike and accomplish his purpo- 
ses. 

The reader of events well knows what has 
been the results. Day by day sectional feel- 
ings have grown stronger. There never was a 
time, even when "war's desolation " was crush- 
ing the very life out of the South, when there 
was greater and more intense hatred between 
the two sections of our country than there is 
to-day. The terrible" wranglings in Congress 
during its last two or three sessions have 
been so base that American citizens all over 
the world have been compelled to hide their 
faces in shame when their home representa- 
tives have been mentioned. 



THE END IS NOT YET. 

Designing men, perhaps under the very 
direction of the great aspirant to the throne, 
are crystallizing this state of affairs at 
Washington and elsewhere, arraying the 
" united North" against the " united South," 
determined, if possible, to precipitate anoth- 
er internal convulsion out of which will sure- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 79 

ly spring the beginning of another form of 
government. " Stalwart Republicans " all 
over the North, and " old time Democrats " 
all over the South, are organizing themselves 
and preparing for a desperate encounter of 
some kind in 1880. President Hayes has 
identified himself with the " stalwarts," thus 
widening the breach between the contending 
parties. At this juncture "policy" is upper- 
most, and the silent ex-President says noth- 
ing. His friends are, none the less, bus- 
ily at work in these crystallizing arrange- 
ments; and they are as anxious to establish 
an Empire upon the ruins of Republicanism 
as were the friends of Napoleon, when they 
placed McMahon, Duke of Magenta, in the 
Presidential chair of France. McMahon's 
friends and Grant's supporters well know 
their champions — well know that they are 
ambitious, and that their faces are set crown- 
ward. 



WHO ARE FOR GRANT? 

It is very true that at present there are 
many of the representative men of the Re- 
publican party, who are now opposed to the 



80 THE GREAT 

re-election of General Grant to the presiden- 
cy ; but the "powers that be," embracing all 
who are desirous of a " stronger govern- 
ment," those who are dazzled by the hopes 
of royal appointments, monopolists, and cap- 
italists of all kinds, are, oi will be, "solid for 
Grant," and these will, doubtless, complete- 
ly unite the movement. In reviewing the sit- 
uation, a leading Ohio journal says : 

" But it would take too long to enumerate 
the causes which conspired to reconcile him 
to the leaders of his party or the evidences 
of the fact. It is sufficient to know that it 
has been accomplished, and that when the 
time comes the whole power, patronage and 
force of the Federal Government will be used 
to promote the election of Grant to the 
Presidency." 



THE GLOBE-DEMOCRAT'S VIEWS. 

An editorial appeared in the St. Louis 
Globe-Democrat, July 20, 1879, of the most 
significant character. We give it place be- 
cause of its high origin, and the vast num- 
ber of elastic politicians which its expres- 
sions shape and develop : 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 8 1 

" The new editor of the Times-Journal 
promises to be independent of politics. 
There will not be much room for indepen- 
dent political journals in this country in the 
next few years. The party lines will be drawn 
more closely in 1880 than ever before. The 
fight will be more bitter, and quite as mo- 
mentous, as in i860, and the same ques- 
tion will be at issue — whether the State or 
the Nation shall be supreme. We are for 
National supremacy, if necessary, at the 
cost of every State line between Maine and 
California. We prefer National supremacy 
with State lines, but if we cannot have that, 
then we are for National supremacy without 
State lines." 

The following more than significant editor- 
ial appeared in the Globe-Dtmocrat of Sep- 
tember 13, 1879 : 

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat says Blaine 
is the first choice of all for 1884. The G.-D. 
seems to be losing its grip on the science of 
government. It forgets that a fourth term is 
as necessary as a third. — Cincinnati Commer- 
cial. 

" All right. A fourth term may be a good 
thing; if so, we shall favor it when the time 
comes. The third term is the duty lying 
nearest to us at present. We are not unal- 

5 



82 THE GREAT 

terably committed against a fourth term, or 
a fifth, or a sixth. We never heard of a mer- 
chant discharging a faithful clerk because 
he had been too long in his service." 

These short editorial items speak for them- 
selves. A shrewd, thoughtful, treacherous 
advocate of a "stronger government," is the 
man who penned these words : " We are 
for National supremacy, if necessary, at the 
cost of every State line between Maine and 
California." In other words, he has said : 
"We are for National supremacy, if neces- 
sary, at the cost of every principle of Amer- 
ican Republicanism." The editors of this 
sheet do not speak at random. Their words 
are carefully selected. They are for Grant, 
and, of course, are fully committed to Impe- 
rial Grantism. 



ANOTHER "STALWART" PAPER'S 
PROPOSED POLICY. 

Another radical Republican journal, pub- 
lished in the West, proposes the same policy, 
but its expressions are made with less reser- 
vation than those of the Globe-Democrat. 
The following is the article verbatim : 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 83 

1880 — GRANT. 

Booming, booming, booming, 

For Grant. 

With the Nation's Capital in the hands of 
traitors, the low but deep murmurs of a de- 
frauded people grow into sullen reverbera- 
tions, 

That gather, gather, gather: 

And rumbling over the graves of a million 
dead heroes, who seemed to have died in 
vain that the Nation might live. 

They roll grandly into the awakened hearts 
of thirty million living patriots, 

And break on the ears of the world, 

Booming, booming, booming 

For Grant in 1880. 

Transcendentalism, gush, reconciliation, 
and all other tricks of reconstruction are 
played out. 

Exit doves, olive branches and fol-de-rol. 

Grant and gunpowder, 

Grant and bayonets, 

Grant and the gallows for traitors. 

Grant and the grand old Union army on 
the top shelf. 

Grant in the Presidential chair — his Con- 
gress and Cabinet taken from the grim war- 
riors who saved the Union to preserve it — 

And to stay there till the crack of doom, 
if the integrity of the Republic requires it. 

It was the sword of the Fathers that crea- 
ted the Republic ; it was the sword of their 
sons that defended it against foreign foes ; it 



84 THE GREAT 

was the sword of their grandsons that res- 
cued it from hell-born domestic treason. 

To the army we owe our creation, preser- 
vation, redemption. 

From the ranks of the civilian and the 
statesman have come the imbeciles and blath- 
ering impracticables, gushing sentimentalists 
and diabolistic traitors. 

They may do when peach blossoms and 
butterflies dance in the calm sunbeams of 
peace; 

But when treason stalks at noonday in the 
Nation's Capital, 

The sword must be unsheathed, the soldier 
must step to the front. 

Shot and shell, grape and canister, are the 
only arguments traitors can understand. 

Washington, Jackson, Grant — 

Why, all the so-called statesmen the 
country has produced would not make a re- 
spectable shadow of this immortal trinity of 
warriors. 

Washington is dead, and Jackson is dead; 
but all that was great and good in both lives 
in Grant. 

The crisis is on us — brought on us by soft- 
headed, blundering romancers, as ignorant of 
human nature as they were of human history. 

They called themselves statesmen, 

They sent the army to the rear, 

They tore the uniform from the backs of 
the Union soldiers, the men who had saved 
the Republic, 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 85 

And howled " Git ! We will manage the 
affairs of this Nation." 

"You fellows with bayonets and epaulettes 
are dangerous." 

" We'll run the machine." 

And they have run it — these statesmen, 

They've run it to the devil 

In less than fifteen years from the day 
when Grant gave the blood-cemented frag- 
ments to the keeping of the statesmen. 

It was a grand day that, too, when, within 
the shadows of the Nation's Capitol, he 
handed his sword and a reunited Republic to 
Old Abe Lincoln. 

There were tattered banners, torn to shreds 
by shot and shell from traitors' guns. 

There were grim, blood-stained warriors, a 
half-million, more or less, 

And there were a million new-made graves. 

But there was not a traitor in the Capitol 
of the United States that day. 

But that day has passed, and Old Abe Lin- 
coln is dead. 

And to-day, in the Corridors of the Capi- 
tol, in the seats where Lovejoy, and Sumner, 
and Webster and Giddings sat, 

In the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, the once shattered Rebel army makes 
laws for the Republic, 

And Union soldiers go about humbly with 
bated breath. 

This is to-day. 

But there are millions of our countrymen 



86 THE GREAT 

who long and hope forthe success of Imperial 
principles. But a few days since the author 
was conversing with a noted ex-U. S. Sen- 
ator and ventured to suggest that there were 
many who desired for us a stronger govern- 
ment, and on the instant an animated reply 
came — " Yes, a very much stronger govern- 
ment. Those who have not contemplated 
things in this light will soon be exceedingly 
surprised." 

And what does all this portend ? This is 
not an isolated case. Nay, there are vast 
numbers of so-called Republicans who heart- 
ily endorse these sentiments and would be 
willing to precipitate another civil war in de- 
fence of them. 



THE CONFLICT INEVITABLE. 

We have said that another internal con- 
vulsion would follow the nomination of U. S. 
Grant for the next Presidency; each section 
of the country would be immediately arrayed 
against the other section, and two millions 
of brave soldiers would be called to the field 
to sacrifice their lives in the interests of petty 
tyrants and hell-inspired traitors. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 8? 

We copy verbatim a short article from the 
Okolona States, August 6, 1879, which gives 
expression to a feeling culminating all over 
the Southern States: 

Yes ; the Radical party has made its last 
triumphant foray upon the rights of the 
States and the people. 

The Shermans, the Blaines, the Chandlers, 
and all that mouthing mob of windy word- 
grinders, may call this confederacy a " na- 
tion" until their throats crack open, but they 
will never be permitted to make it a nation 
in point of fact. 

Their pestilent carcasses will hang in chains 
and feed the vultures if they dare to subvert 
the rights set forth in the Constitution by the 
old Continental Secessionists. 

Unite, Democrats! and proclaim this 
States' Union dissoluble at pleasure. 

Unite and swear that the Amendments 
shall be disrooted from the Constitution. 

Unite, spawl upon and triturate the last re- 
sult of the war, under the soles of your feet. 

Unite, and slam to forever the doors of 
the free schools. 

Unite, and vow that white men, and white 
men only, shall vote, hold office and sit on 
juries. 

Unite, and tell the Grants, the Shermans, 
the Garfields, and the vulgar variety who 
train under their flag, that you stand to-day 
where you stood in 1861, and are willing to 
fight the old fight over again with ballots of 
MUSKET BALLS. 



88 THE GREAT 

Prepare ! 

Spot your traitors ! 

Strip the straps from the shoulders of your 
dastard bastard Democrats. 

Place the old guard in charge of the guns, 
and open the campaign for the restoration of 
the old Planter Republic of Thomas Jeffer- 
son, John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis. 

And thus the elements are becoming agi- 
tated. East, West, North and South are 
alike sharing in this wild agitation. The 
great political seas are tempestuous; our 
ship of State is floundering, and if the Great 
Master Himself does not speak from the 
heavens, " Peace, be still," the fierce waves 
will certainly endanger all our Republican 
institutions. 



A DICTATOR DEMANDED. 

When the citizens of this great nation 
shall again be arrayed against each other in 
battle, the war will be one of determined ex- 
termination. The forces of the contending 
parties will be so nearly equal that the carn- 
age will not be stayed until our land shall 
be almost depopulated. Then shall come 
the call for a Dictator, as a last resort. Then 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 89 

will President Grant lay aside his robes of 
Republicanism, seize the scepter, mount the 
throne, command the soldiery, and lead on to 
a Monarchy indeed. 

Peace may thus be temporarily secured; 
but a false peace cannot endure. An Amer- 
ican Empire, though established at the point 
of the bayonet, would contain the elements 
of its own destruction. There are too many 
great-hearted, patriotic citizens in America to 
see such a rule established and continued, 
without constant protestations. 



IMPERIALISTIC PREFERENCE. 

Soon after General Grant's arrival in Eng- 
land, the course of his European journey was 
arranged. After making the tour of England 
he was to visit France. His plans were, how- 
ever, suddenly changed. This change was 
occasioned by a request from McMahon, 
President of the French Republic, that the 
visit be deferred until after the election in 
September. 

But who was this McMahon, and why this 
strange request ? McMahon was a friend to 
the Napoleon Dynasty, who, under the garb 



90 THE GREAT 

of a Republican, was elected to the Presi- 
dency of France, only that he might have a 
better opportunity of aiding in the re-estab- 
lishment of a Monarchy, and the restoration 
of the Bonaparte house to the throne. 

The London Times, of September the 5th, 
says substantially that when McMahon found 
that he could not accomplish that for which 
his friends had made him President of France, 
viz., to restore the Bonaparte Dynasty, he 
resigned. 

Of all the intentions of President McMa- 
hon, General Grant was, probably, conver- 
sant ; and when the request came that he 
should defer his visit to France till after the 
election, lest his presence would influence the 
people to such an extent that the Republicans 
would gain the day, he quickly acquiesced, 
changed his purposes, and made his way to 
other countries. 

Where is there a true friend of Republi- 
canism, be he an American or a foreigner, 
who does not feel the fires of a righteous in- 
dignation burning within him when he con- 
templates such treachery, — such treason on 
the part of such a man ? No wonder that 
when Grant did visit France, the true hearted 
Republicans passed him by with so little con- 




Count Von Bulow of Austria. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 93 

sideration. The only wonder is that they 
did not shun him altogether. 



OFF FOR THE CONTINENT. 

On the 5th of July, 1877, General Grant 
and party left England on the especially 
chartered steamer "Victoria," for Belgium 
via Ostend. There were no important events 
connected with this journey until the 8th of 
July. On this day the party arrived at Vien- 
na, in Austria. 



ROYAL AUSTRIAN HONORS. 

General Grant's stay in Vienna was short, 
but it was a significant one. He stooped not 
to visit any others than the Emperor and the 
highest dignitaries of the court. With the 
Emperor he visited several places of much 
interest, among which was the Hotel de 
Ville. Here the General was exceedingly 
interested in perusing the ancient registers. 
In the evening a state dinner was given in 
honor of the distinguished visitors, and every 
attention which royalty could render, or roy- 
alty seekers demand, was given. 



94 THE GREAT 

On Monday, July 9th, the visiting party 
left Vienna. Cologne was next visited; but 
the stay here was short, and not marked 
with any incidents of particular note, unless 
it be that, at this time and place, definite ar- 
rangements were consummated to meet the 
Emperor of Germany at an appointed time 
in the future. 



RETURNS TO THE QUEEN'S 
DOMAIN. 

Some weeks were spent by General Grant 
and party on the Continent. Many imperial 
courts were visited, and the General, doubt- 
less, received many first-class lessons in aris- 
tocratic government. In the month of August 
he returned to the Queen's Domain, that he 
might make his promised visit to various 
cities and distinguished personages. 



THE MILITARY COLLAR OF AMERI- 
CAN ROYALTY. 

On the 21st of August, 1877, General 
Grant dined with the Duke of Devonshire, 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 95 

at the Devonshire House, England, and on 
this occasion we observe one of the most 
significant acts of his touristic life. 

A Royal Collar of strange device had pre- 
viously come into his possession. From 
whence it came, or when it came, we have 
not been told ; but from all the circumstan- 
ces surrounding the matter, and from the pe- 
culiar designs and devices of the collar itself, 
we may with a degree of certainty conclude 
that it was presented to him by some abso- 
lute monarch, or by some of his own ardent 
supporters who saw in him the reigning 
splendors of a mighty Emperor. 

" The collar was gotten up to represent the 
whole military honors of the country, and 
symbolized all the military corps of the army 
of the United States meiled into one," such 
is the outline description given of it by 
an eye witness. 

This mysterious collar General Grant wore 
at the Devonshire dinner, thinking thereby 
to please the English aristocracy; but it sa- 
vored too strongly of absolute rule to suit the 
notions of these republico-monarchial Eng- 
lishmen. The mysteries of the glittering 
stars and the images of living things which 
were upon it, the legendry of which may 



96 THE GREAT 

never be read by vulgar eyes, betokened en- 
tirely too much for them. Of these things 
gentle hints were given, and the same corre- 
spondent who gave the description of the col- 
lar writes : 

" General Grant wore it no more, as it 
was not favorably received even by the mil- 
itary of Great Britain." 

If there were no other evidences of the 
inordinate ambition of Ulysses S. Grant, this 
would be sufficient. 



THE VISIT TO EDINBURGAND 
OTHER CITIES. 

On the 31st of August General Grant vis- 
ited Edinburg. He was made a free burgess of 
the city by the Lord Provost in the presence 
of two thousand people. He was the guest 
of the Lord Provost, who gave a magnificent 
banquet in his honor. In reply to the ad- 
dress of welcome, General Grant said : 

" I am so filled with emotion that I scarcely 
know how to thank you for the honor con- 
ferred upon me." 

We quote another sentence in this address 
of the General, which shows his characteris- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 97 

tic flattery whenever a point is to be gained : 

"We of America are proud of Scotchmen; 
they make good citizens, and they make 
money." 

Many places of interest were visited by the 
General and party. Among which were the 
birth place of Sir Walter Scott, the Library, 
the Public Garden, the tragic and sombre 
chamber where Mary, Queen of Scotts, spent 
so much of her time, and where D. Rezzio 
was dragged from her presence and mur- 
dered. 

On the 4th of September the party visited 
the Duke of Southerland, and was received 
with honorable demonstrations. 

On the 6ih of September the General vis- 
ited Dundee, where he was enthusiastically re- 
ceived and was granted the freedom of the 
city. 

On the 7th of September the General vis- 
ited Wick; on the 8th, Iverness; on the nth 
Elgin. Splendid demonstrations were made 
at each of these places, and he formally re- 
ceived the freedom of each city. 

Upon receiving the freedom of the city of 
Wick, and in answer to an address by the 
Lord Provost, General Grant said : 

"During the eight years of my Presidency 

6 



98 THE GREAT 

it was my hope, which was realized, that all 
differences between the great nations, Eng- 
land and the United States, should be settled 
in a manner honorable to both. I felt the 
importance of maintaining friendly relations 
between the English-speaking people." 

On the 13th of September the General vis- 
ited Glasgow and received the freedom of the 
city. In introducing him to the vast concourse 
of people that had assembled to honor the 
great American, the Lord Provost said : 

" General Grant has proven himself the 
Wellington of America. The great and good 
Lincoln struck down the Upas tree of slavery ; 
General Grant tore it up by the roots." 



COURTING THE FAVOR OF WORK- 
INGMEN. 

To be honorably received by the aristocra- 
cy of the Old World, would exalt General 
Grant in the estimation of the money-kings 
and codfish aristocrats of America ; such re- 
ceptions, however, would have but little 
weight with the great "powers that be," — 
the masses, the voters, — in whose hands lie 
the political destiny of all our citizens. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 99 

Well did the wily ex-President understand 
this, and with a cunningness unsurpassed in 
the history of ambitious men, he pulled the 
wires and manipulated matters in such a way 
that vast numbers of the workingmen of 
England united in shouting his praises. 



THE ADDRESS OF THE FORTY. 

Before the General left England for the 
Continent, he brought about a meeting of 
representative workingmen that was heralded 
far and near. Forty men, supposed to rep- 
resent the workingmen of all classes in 
England, prepared an address, highly eulo- 
gistic of the General, and upon a most auspi- 
cious occasion presented it. In response to 
this address the General made perhaps the 
wisest speech that ever fell from his lips. 
This address was in praise of the working 
men, and was telegraphed to all parts of the . 
United States, published in many widely 
circulated papers, and read by thousands of 
our citizens. 



100 THE GREAT 

THE MEETING OF THE 8o,ooo. 

On the 22d of September, 1877, at the 
suggestion of Mr. Burt, M. P., and others of 
the Royal government, the workingmen in 
the mines, and elsewhere, in the vicinity of 
Newcastle, enjoyed a holiday, that they might 
do honor to the distinguished American. 
Eighty thousand of these workingmen assem- 
bled, and in a right royal style the embryotic 
American potentate was honored. The news 
of this " workingmen's demonstration " spread 
like wildfire all over the United States, and 
General Grant's fame was increased an hun- 
dred fold. 



GRANT'S ATTACK ON MOTLEY AND 
SUMNER. 

On the 28th of September General Grant 
visited Stratford-on-Avon. He was met at 
the railroad depot by the Lord Mayor of the 
city and attendants, with the usual demon- 
strations of honorable recognition. In the 
evening a banquet was given in his honor, 
and a number of exceedingly eulogistic 
speeches were made. In answer to these 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 10 I 

the General said some excellent things, but 
for some unaccountable reason he lost his 
usually good judgment, and attacked in the 
most unmerciful, unbecoming and ungentle- 
manly manner two of his own countrymen — 
Mr. Motley and Mr. Sumner, both deceased. 

A telegraphic dispatch to the New York 
Press, under date of September 26, describ- 
ing this banquet, says: 

" We have said that the ex-President talks 
too much. He chooses this strange time to 
revive a bitter quarrel with two distinguished 
men who have long been in their graves. 
The fame of Sumner and Motley is a part of 
the nation's treasure and the whole country, 
without regard to political differences, will 
regard this uncalled-for attack upon their 
memory, when they were no longer here to 
answer, with amazement and profound re- 
gret. 

'1 he General's dislike to Mr. Sumner 
amounted to absolute hatred, and even death 
has not softened it. Certainly, when his own 
conduct is assailed he has the right to defend 
it; but if he wished to attack Mr. Sumner 
the time to have done so would have been 
when the defendant could have spoken for 
himself. 



102 THE GREAT 

THE VISIT TO BURMINGHAM. 

On the 16th of October, 1877, General 
Grant visited Burmingham, and was received 
by the Lord Mayor and City Council in ap- 
propriate royal style. Arrangements seem 
to have been partially made by which the 
workingmen were to turn out en mass to do 
honor to their distinguished visitor. The 
intelligence and far-sightedness on the part 
of the workingmen, however, caused the 
plans to fail. They were too democratic in 
their notions ; they had seen enough of roya]_ 
patronage, and they refused to honor, in any 
especial manner, the ambitious American as- 
pirant. 

The Burmingham entertainment was, 
therefore, an exceedingly tame affair, and the 
General coolly thanked the Mayor for his 
hospitalities and took his departure. 



GENERAL GRANT IN FRANCE. 

Having filled all his engagements on Brit- 
ish soil, General Grant departed for France, 
— that young Republic struggling for an ex- 
istence, which he would not visit when it was 




Victor Hugo. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. IO5 

within his power to have done it good. On 
the 24th of October, 1877, he reached Paris, 
and was received in accordance with instruc- 
tions from our Secretary of Foreign Rela- 
tions, by Mr. Noyes, our Vice Consul at 
Paris, and a few other American citizens. He 
was escorted to a saloon prepared for him 
and his party, where they were cordially and 
respectfully entertained. 

At two o'clock, p. m., October 25, the Gen- 
eral visited President McMahon, that wily, 
unprincipled Imperialist, who was wearing 
the garb of Republicanism only that he 
might accomplish his infernal designs. 
Strange, isn't it, that such a patriotic Repub- 
lican (?) as General Grant, should immediately 
upon his arrival upon the soil of a struggling 
Republic, seek the favor and the Courts of 
an Imperialist, at heart the bitterest enemy 
to Republican institutions ? 

The New York Tribune contained the fol- 
lowing dispatch, under date of October 25, 
1877: 

" Not Much Royalty now in Paris. — The 
Memorial Diplomatique states that President 
McMahon received General Grant at the 
Elysee with a hearty embrace, and said he 
was much gratified to make the acquaintance 



106 THE GREAT 

of so illustrious a soldier. He offered to 
open all the French military establishments 
for his inspection, and to furnish him with 
means of knowing everything he wished con- 
cerning French military affairs. The United 
States Legation will, of course, give General 
Grant a banquet." 

From the same paper of later date, we 
quote : 

" Several representatives of French news- 
papers have had interviews with General 
Grant, and found him very reticent. He de- 
clined to express an opinion on the political 
situation here. He said that his first impres- 
sion of France was that it wore a well-ordered 
and prosperous aspect. 

"President McMahon visited the General 
on Saturday, and invited him to the opera. 

" Vice Admiral Pathen, the Count de Paris 
and the Duchess de Cason all called on him. 

" An American order is secured for a grand 
banquet to General Grant, to be given by the 
American officials in Paris, and many Amer- 
icans are induced to attend, as well as a few 
titled Frenchmen, two of whom have spoken 
favorably of him. 

" We have chronicled what has transpired 
in Paris regarding General Grant more fully 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. IO7 

than of any other city, because it seems so 
extraordinary. It must be remembered that 
during his stay here he has, even for him 
maintained remarkable reticence on Repub- 
licanism." 



A REPORTER'S VIEWS. 

In the Tribune of November 19, 1877, we 
find the following very suggestive letter from 
Geo. W. Smalley, under date of November 3d 

A VISIT NOT HELPFUL TO REPUBLICANISM. 

" It appears that the United States Minister 
at Paris surpasses Mr. Pierrepont himself in 
matters of etiquette. You cannot have for- 
gotten the questions which agitated London 
— what do I say? — England, and all Europe, 
perhaps — certainly the United States, and 
for aught I know, all mankind — only a few 
months ago. The question whether General 
Grant should go out to dinner before or after 
an Ambassador, an Earl or a Duke ; the 
question who should accompany Mrs. Grant; 
the whole vast mystery, in short, of prece- 
dence and punctilio. 

" I recounted at the time Mr. Pierrepont's 
triumphs; recounted them with pride, did I 
not? I mourned, like a good American, 



IOS THE GREAT 

over the dinner at Marlboro* House, when 
Grant was a guest of the Prince of Wales and 
had to content himself with a rear view of the 
company. 

" I have before me a French paper with a 
minute and particular account of the dinner 
given Thursday evening at the Elysee, by 
Marshal McMahon to General Grant. The 
arrangements were such as to satisfy the most 
exacting patriot. The dinner was the most 
distinct official recognition of rank which he 
has received in Europe. If he had been Pres- 
ident in fact, instead of ex-President, I do 
not see what more could have been done. 

" All the Cabinet was present (all of whom 
were most favorable to a Bonaparte restora- 
tion) ; the Marshal's staff and chief officers 
of his military household; ' Mollard,' intro- 
ducer of Ambassadors; the Prefects of the 
Seine and of the Police ; Grant, Jesse fils au 
General; General Noyes; Mr. Venard, Sec- 
retary of Legation ; General Torbert, Consul 
General of the United States ; Madame La 
Duchess; Madame Touches; Madame Ber- 
thant ; Mrs. Grant ; Mrs. Noyes ; Mrs. Sickles; 
Miss Lincoln and Miss Stevens. 

" Mr. Pierrepont must sorrowfully confess, 

* * * and still more sorrowful must he 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. IO9 

be as he reads what follows. Lest I commit 
some awful error, I translate word for word : 

" The Duchess of Magenta had on her 
right General Grant, and on her left the Due 
De Broglie. The Marshal President had on 
his right Madame Grant, and on his left the 
Duchess de Cazes. Madame Noyes was 
placed between the Due de Broglie, who 
took her to dinner, and Admiral Gecqueldes 
Trouches. General Noyes had on his right 
Madame Torbert, and on his left Madame 
Sickles. 

"The dinner lasted an hour and a half. At 
9 o'clock the guests retired to the drawing- 
room, the Marshal offering his arm to Mad- 
ame Grant. The Marshal and General 
Grant withdrew to the smoking room, where 
they had a pretty long talk, Mons Venard 
acting as interpreter. 

" The Marshal invited General Grant to 
come to his house at Versailles without cere- 
mony, and to be present at some of the ses- 
sions of the Senate Chamber, placing the 
presidential Tribunes at his disposal, — all of 
which General Grant accepted; the party 
broke up at IO o'clock. 

" General Grant and family were enchanted 
with their reception by the Marshal and 



I 10 THE GREAT 

Madame de McMahon. Nothing could be 
more perfect than that. Meantime the Re- 
publicans of France, seeing that General 
Grant has chosen to visit Paris at the moment 
when his presence might be of some political 
use to the enemies of the Republic, and that 
he has definitely and publicly cast in his lot 
with them, do not intrude upon him ! They 
have an idea in Paris that a man belongs to 
one set or another. And this idea governs 
social relations to a great extent, as well as 
political life; General Grant, after having 
stayed away from Paris last summer, lest he 
might embarrass aristocracy, chooses for hij 
visit a moment when the Government is still 
in the hands of the conspirators of the 16th of 
May; when a crisis is at its height; when 
the nation has signified its wish to be rid of 
the Ministry, if not of the Marshal himself; 
and when the influence of General Grant's 
renown, and even of his Republicanism, is all 
thrown on their side and against the Repub- 
lic. The influence may not be much, but it 
is something. The public appearance of 
General Grant and family, next week, in the 
Marshal's box at the Senate and the Cham- 
ber of Deputies, will make the apparent sym- 
pathies still more ostentatious. It would not 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. Ill 

have been difficult for General Grant to have 
kept away from Paris during the few days 
this Ministry had to live, and until the Mar- 
shal had resigned. * * I do not know or 
suppose that General Noyes has troubled 
himself about etiquette at the table. 

" I should like to remind Gen. Grant of 
Paul Cassagnac's sheet by way of opening his 
eyes to the company he keeps. 

" Cassagnac has just retired from the 
country, and in his sheet advises the Marshal 
to defy the Chamber and disregard the Con- 
stitution if the Chamber refuse the budget, to 
levy a tax and spend the money all the same ; 
and he is the mouth-piece of the most ener- 
getic Bonapartist and McMahon's friend. If 
Grant would like to see how far the brutality 
of Bonapartist politics is carried into private 
life, let him take a paragraph concerning a 
Republican Deputy, also from Paul de Cas- 
sagnac's paper. 

" It is announced that Mr. Guyot Montpey- 
rout has suddenly become insane. We are as- 
sured that in these circumstances he will 
abandon the editorship of the Courier de 
France. That he has become insane is un- 
hapily true; being true, this is only in- 
ferior in ferocity to Cassagnac saying they 



112 THE GREAT 

would dance around their graves, of which I 
lately had occasion to remind Gen. Grant." 

In the light of the past few years it is safe 
to believe Gen. Grant cares for no such re- 
minder. Ulyses has his plans and is fixed 
in his determination; it is fair to suppose he 
knew what he was about ; that he sees as 
with prophetic eye his own plans secured in 
his Imperial designs, and so does not desire 
to aid Republicanism. 



GRANT'S OWN BIOGRAPHER'S 
NOTES. 

J. R. Young, the gentleman subsidized by 
the United States to travel with General 
Grant in his "voyage around the world," in- 
variably speaks as eulogistically as possible 
of the "great man." Concerning the visit to 
Paris he has but little to say. From his 
book, " Round the World with General 
Grant," we quote: 

" It would be impossible to give in detail 
an account of the many receptions and din- 
ners given to General Grant in Paris. * * 
* His stay was a pleasant one. * * It 
is not worth while to detail such minor in- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 1 1 3 

cidents of a disagreeable character which 
arose, because French political feelings would 
not regard General Grant's visit to France in 
the light he intended it to be. * * * * 
It is a matter of regret that this feeling 
should have existed ; but it belongs to the 
history of General Grant's visit to France, 
and as such I am forced to write it. Although 
this feeling existed, the French were too po- 
lite a people to show the least discourtesy to 
a guest." 

This was Mr. Young's easiest way of pass- 
ing over the stupendous outrage which Gen- 
eral Grant perpetrated upon the Republicans 
of France, both in the selection of such an 
inauspicious time for making the visit, and in 
his anti-Republican maneuvers while in their 
midst. Under the circumstances, the patri- 
ots of any other Republican nation would 
have positively resented such treatment, and 
unreservedly demonstrated their indignation; 
but the world-renowned polite French Re- 
publicans severely left him alone in his Mc- 
Mahonistic glory. 



114 THE GREAT 

GRANT'S FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 

Having become entirely satisfied that no 
more honors could be gained in France, our 
ex-President bade McMahon and his royal 
Court a tender farewell, and set sail on the 
steamer Vandalia for other scenes of splen- 
dor. The magnificent city of Naples lay in 
his way, and he paid it a passing visit. He 
spent some days in reading its wonderful his- 
tory, viewing its volcanoes, and treading over 
their world-renowned lava beds. He spent 
a day amid the resurrected ruins of Pompeii, 
exploring its mysterious caverns and curious- 
gazing upon its uninterpreted hieroglyphics. 



RECEPTION AT MALTA. 

Nothing of especial interest transpired 
durine this visit of General Grant to sunny 
Italy. No political fame could be gained be- 
neath these genial skies, and he was soon 
gliding among the beautiful islands of the 
Mediterranean. 

At Malta the General was most enthusias- 
tically received. The English bands played 
American airs, and nothing was left undone 




Prince Milan. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 117 

to honor the Chief, and make his brief stay 
a pleasant one. 



GENERAL GRANT IN EGYPT. 

Egypt was the next country of importance 
visited by General Grant. At Alexandria he 
met with a very warm reception, and his pres- 
ence was eagerly sought by the nobility. 

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, was next fa- 
vored by the great General, and he was wel- 
comed by the Khedive with gorgeous dem- 
onstrations of honorable recognition. A 
grand entertainment was given in his honor 
by the Consul General, and marked atten- 
tion was shown to him wherever he went by 
those highest in authority. 

Some weeks were spent in Egypt by the 
" distinguished visitors." Nearly every place 
of interest was visited, and the stay was a 
pleasant and "profitable " one. 



GRANT IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Having made the " tour of Egypt," Gen- 
eral Grant visited the Holy Land. Of course 



Il8 THE GREAT 

no especial political significance can be at- 
tached to his visit to this " Land of Sacred 
Memories," but the General's biographer is 
determined to make a point in connection 
with it, if possible. 

The Savior of mankind once trod the val- 
ley ways and rugged mountain paths of that 
country, and when the vast crowds of people 
gathered from near and from far to hear his 
words of life, he desired to symbolize his 
coming glory, and amid the " hosannahs " of 
the children and the praises of his followers, 
he made that which for eighteen centuries 
has been called, " His Triumphal Entry into 
Jerusalem." General Grant's biographer, in 
relating the incidents connected with the 
General's visit to Jerusalem, would have the 
masses, who are unacquainted with Jerusa- 
lem as it is, believe that another King scarce- 
ly inferior to the King of kings, has passed, 
in like manner, into the city. He therefore 
heads his article, " Grant's Triumphal Entry 
into Jerusalem." What prostitution of lan- 
guage ! What misapplied verbiage ! What 
sacrilegious quotation ! 

General Grant visited many places of in- 
terest in the Holy Land, but there were no 
incidents of importance touching our present 
line of thought. 




Turkish Minister of War. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 121 

GRANT'S VISIT TO TURKEY. 

The final farewells to the Holy Land were 
at last said, and General Grant took up his 
line of march for the " sick man's dominion." 
En route thither he visited Damascus, Smyrna, 
and other cities familiar to the student of 
Bible History. 

Constantinople, with its multitude of anti- 
quated mosques, and its imposing royal pal- 
aces, was at length reached, and the ambitious 
General was ushered into the Courts of the 
Empire with imposing ceremonies. He very 
soon won the highest regards of the Sultan, 
who presented him with a pair of the finest 
horses that his royal stables afforded. 

The "tour of Constantinople" was soon 
made, and, as there were no other points in 
Turkey that the General cared to visit, he 
turned his steps toward other lands. 



IN ITALY AGAIN. 

Leaving Constantinople, the General set 
sail for the sunny land of Italy again. He 
paid a passing visit to Athens, Corinth, Syra- 
cuse, and other Mediterranean ports. 



122 THE GREAT 

The city of Rome, with its imperial splen- 
dors, was soon reached, and King Humbert 
met the noted soldier, and showed' him most 
marked and honorable attentions. 

At Florence and Venice, also, the General 
met with cordial receptions. The nobles in 
every department of the government seemed 
to vie with each other in doing homage to 
him. 



AT THE EXPOSITION. 

The International Exposition was in ses- 
sion in Paris, and General Grant hurriedly 
completed all other engagements and hast- 
ened thither, knowing that there abundant 
opportunities would be afforded him to 
secure the good will and sympathies of man- 
ufacturers and merchants from every part of 
the civilized world. 

At the Exposition the General again met 
the Prince of Wales. They renewed their in- 
timate friendship of other days and spent 
much of their time together. 




Crown Prince of Germany. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 125 

THE COMING EMPEROR IN 
GERMANY. 

The World's Exposition closed, and Gen- 
eral Grant turned with a longing heart to- 
ward the Capital of the great German Em- 
pire. It is probable that from the time when 
his aspirations took athroneward turn he was 
exceedingly anxious to have a conference 
with Prince Bismarck, the greatest diplomat 
that has trod European shores for a century. 
Well did he know that in this German Prince 
he had a warm friend, one that could be de- 
pended upon when the time came to strike 
for Imperialism in America. 

En route for Berlin, General Grant paid 
Holland a passing visit. On the 26th of 
June, 1878, he reached Berlin. Some sixty 
miles from the city he was met by the United 
States Minister, Mr. Bayard Taylor. In this 
grand German metropolis, this city of 875,- 
OOO people, our ex-President met with con- 
tinued expressions of esteem. For some 
days he looked about the city as an ordinary 
tourist, and he manifested a wonderful inter- 
est in everything he saw as he leisurely 
strolled along "Unter den Linden." 



126 THE GREAT 

THE AUSPICIOUS TIME. 

General Grant has always been a good 
reader of the signs of the times. He seems 
to know by intuitive perception just when to 
do everything. Times and seasons he has 
well studied. He visited England just at the 
time when he could accomplish the most to- 
ward his own aggrandizement; he visited 
France just at the time to secure the favor of 
the Imperialists, and now he visits Berlin 
while the diplomats of all Europe are in con- 
gress, assembled in that city, to discuss some 
of the most important questions of nations. 



DISTINGUISHED VISITORS. 

It is said that every one of these distin- 
guished personages called upon the General 
at his hotel. Among the most prominent oi 
these " great ones " we may mention Prince 
Gortschakoff, of Russia; Mehemet Ali, of 
Turkey; Lord Beaconsfield, and Lord Salis- 
bury, of England ; and Prince Bismarck, of 
Germany. 

Like most European aristocrats, Prince 
Gortschakoff had the gout, and was not able 




Prince Bismarck. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 120, 

to call upon the General; but being exceed- 
ingly anxious to see him, he sent a request 
through the Russian Plenipotentiary, and the 
General called upon him. This visit was 
somewhat extended, and, it is said, partook 
largely of the nature of a " private interview." 



THE VISIT TO PRINCE BISMARCK. 

Prince Bismarck seemed to be as anxious 
as any other diplomat to see the " distin- 
guished American soldier." At the time of 
his first call the General was out. The great 
Prince left his card, however, and, at the 
earliest opportunity, he called again. Ar- 
rangements were made for a visit to the Bis- 
marck Palace at four o'clock in the afternoon. 

At the hour appointed, General Grant 
walked up through the Frederick prace to 
the Palace. As he approached, the great 
doors rolled apart and the United States ex- 
President stepped into the spacious hallway, 
where he was met by the great German Chan- 
cellor in person, who, with both hands ex- 
tended, stood ready to receive him. 

" Glad to welcome General Grant to Ger- 
many," said the Prince, as he cordially 
grasped the General's hand. 



I3O THE GREAT 

The incidents and the arrangements of 
this visit were as full of meaning as were any 
of those in England, not excepting the "visit 
to the Prince of Wales," nor the " private 
visit to the Queen," but space will not permit 
us to enter into a detailed description of it. 
Undoubtedly the great Prince was fully con- 
versant with the plans and purposes of the 
General, and of the plans of the English no- 
bility to aid him in his ambitious projects. 

This visit to the Prince's Palace was, of 
of course, "confidential," and we may never 
fully know its complete significance. At the 
conclusion of this interview a bottle of 
schnapps was presented, the sparkling liquor 
was poured into the glass, and the ambitious, 
aspiring General and the Chancellor of the 
German Empire " pledged eternal friendship " 
as they drank the intoxicating beverage. 



GRANT'S NORTHERN TOUR. 

The Berlin visit being completed, General 
Grant turned northward. He visited Den- 
mark, Norway and Sweden. The Fourth of 
July he spent at Hamburg, where he was en- 
thusiastically received. Here he made a 
"grand Fourth of July oration." 




Prince Gortschakoff of Russia. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 133 

At Copenhagen and Gottenburg the Gen- 
eral was in the same hospitable and aristo- 
cratic manner entertained. The King of 
Sweden showed him the most marked atten- 
tion during his entire stay in the Kingdom. 



GENERAL GRANT IN RUSSIA. 

The tours of the small northern kingdoms 
having been made, General Grant directed 
his journey toward Russia, and on the 30th 
of July, 1878, St. Petersburg was reached. 
Immediately upon his arrival he was met and 
warmly welcomed by Hon. E. M. Stoughton, 
the United States Minister at St. Petersburg. 

Prince Gortschakoff, the Russian Empe- 
ror's aid-de-camp, whom the General had 
met at Berlin, was among the first to meet 
him. In the name of the Czar of all the Rus- 
sias he extended to him a hearty welcome, 
and presented him with a message from the 
Emperor. 

On the next day, the 31st of July, his Im- 
perial Highness, Alexander, and General 
Grant met. Of this meeting Mr. Young, 
General Grant's biographer, says, "Nothing 
could exceed the cordiality of the recep- 
tion." 



134 THE GREAT 

The interview with the Emperor was quite 
an extended one, and it is needless to say 
that the military and civic plans touching the 
coming Grant Empire of America were dis- 
cussed in minutiae. 

During the General's stay in St. Peters- 
burg a grand dinner was given in his honor, 
in which all the Russian nobility of the city 
participated. 



OFF AGAIN FOR PARIS. 

The General's stay at St. Petersburg was 
marked with many incidents of special interest. 
The wily intriguing ex-President completely 
gained the influence off all the Russian no- 
bility, and when he strikes for absolute 
authority in America the Russian army will 
doubtless be placed at his command. 

After leaving St. Petersburg the General 
visited Moscow, Warsaw, Vienna and other 
important cities, and after having made one 
of the most profitable tours of his journey he 
returned to Paris. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I 35 

GRANT IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 

After resting a few days in Paris, General 
Grant made his long promised visit to Spain. 
He was received by the King in all possible 
pomp and splendor. He spent some time in 
the kingdom, and everywhere he went the 
nobility treated him with considerations due 
only to an absolute monarch. 

Portugal was also visited, and the General 
there received the usual demonstrations of 
good-will by the titled aristocracy. 



GRANT'S VISIT TO IRELAND. 

Returning to Spain, General Grant visited 
a few more places of interest, and then set 
sail for the " Emerald Isle." He landed at 
Dublin, and was received by the Lord Mayor. 
A grand banquet was given in his honor, and 
he was treated with imposing considerations. 
He visited Londonderry, where he dined 
with the Lord Mayor, and was made a free 
burgess of the city. At Belfast he was re- 
ceived with like considerations. He then 
returned to Dublin. Here he took his final 
leave of the Irish people, and then sailed for 



I36 THE GREAT 

London. His stay in London was of short 
duration. Paris was again visited and a re- 
ception was given him by the American 
Legation. 



HIS EUROPEAN JOURNEY ENDED. 

This return to Paris concluded General 
Grant's European wanderings. No Ameri- 
can traveler ever before made such an extend- 
ed tour, nor met with such honorable recep- 
tions. He visited the Monarchs, and trod in 
the royal courts of every government of 
Europe, and everywhere his own Imperial 
plans seem to have found the warmest and 
most ardent of supporters. 

Not content with his European laurels, 
the General sets his face toward other lands 
with the assurance that greater honors are in 
store for him. After a few day's rest in the 
French capital, he bids farewell to his Euro- 
pean confederates, and sets sail for far off 
India. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 1 37 

HE IS PROFFERED A EUROPEAN 
KINGDOM. 

While General Grant was yet in England, 
the throne of Bulgaria was to be supplied 
with a King. The authorities did not stop 
to search among their own people for a man 
to fill that very important position. There 
was no man in all Europe who stood first in 
their minds. The American " Republican," 
General Grant, was immediately suggested, 
and with all the ceremony that the impor- 
tance of the case demanded, the throne was 
tendered to him. 

Hear these words, patriotic Americans ! 
Is there a single shade of a doubt, after this 
wonderful proffer, that "our beloved chief- 
tain" has been intriguing with royalty, and, 
as a traitor to his country, endeavoring to 
bring foreign influence to bear to destroy its 
freedom and its independence? 

Of course the General would not conde- 
scend to accept the throne of a minor Euro- 
pean kingdom, when, in his exceedingly 
hopeful vision, the throne of a Great Ameri- 
can Empi;e was almost within his reach, and 
would soon be, not almost, but altogether in 
his possession. 



I38 THE GREAT 

THE GENERAL IN INDIA. 

We have not space to present in detail the 
wonderful receptions General Grant received 
whenever and wherever he touched the do- 
main of the Queen — the Empress of India. 
Under the instructions from the English Gov- 
ernment, the military received him with a full 
royal salute, and every British officer bowed 
before him as he would before the greatest 
monarch that ever trod the earth. The Gen- 
eral's stay in India was of short duration, as 
the time for his return to America was near- 
ing, and he wished to visit the " Celestial 
country" before returning. 



GENERAL GRANT IN CHINA. 

In May, 1879, General Grant reached the 
"celestial" Empire. His coming had been 
everywhere heralded, and the nobility, as 
well as the masses, looked upon him as- a 
god. His receptions in England, and other 
European countries, had paved the way for 
the approximate worship which he here re- 
ceived. 

On the 30th of May, 1879, under Imperial 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 139 

orders, the grandest reception that the Gen- 
eral had ever met, was given him in Pekin. 
The highest royal honors were paid to him, 
— in fact such honors had never been paid to 
any ruling monarch in the history of the Chi- 
nese Empire. 

The demonstrations were of a singular 
character wherever the "great soldier" went 
in all the Chinese dominions. 



GENERAL GRANT IN JAPAN. 

In June, 1879, General Grant visited Ja- 
pan ; and, if possible, greater honors were 
heaped upon him than he had received in 
China. 

On the 24th of June the General visited 
Nagasaki, and a dinner costing $50,000 was 
given in his honor in the most antiquated style 
in an antiquated temple. The New York 
Herald gives in substance the following ac- 
count of the dinner: 

"The bill of fare was like a volume of ro- 
mance, embracing over fifty courses, and was 
served on glazed porcelain that rivaled snow 
in its whiteness. The table waiters were 
merchants. 



I4O THE GREAT 

"The Japanese gave this dinner, whicik was 
inspired in England, not as they give a mod- 
ern dinner, but in the Daimois style, which 
dates back fifteen hundred years to an an- 
cient set of Knights of this cognomen, more 
wonderful than the Arabian Knights. * * 
* * General Grant has been the recip- 
ient of no dinner banquet that could com- 
pare with this for ostentation. It was simply 
bewildering. His treatment in Great Britain 
led the^Japanese to look on him as more than 
mortal. They declared that any outward 
signs of respect which they offered him were 
but a fraction of what they felt. * * Noth- 
ing was left out at this banquet that could 
give ostentation, or add to the splendor and 
delight of the occasion. 

" In Japan, as well as in China, the powers 
that be regarded General Grant as such a su- 
perior being that they called upon him to ad- 
judicate national troubles that had long been 
threatening their national existence. They 
seemed to think of him as a god come down 
from the brightness of his eternal glory, that 
he might be Dictator and arbitrarily adjust 
all matters of difference between all nations. 

" With this feeling in their hearts, it is no 
wonder that they could not heap enough 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. HI 

honors upon their illustrious visitor to satisfy 
themselves." 



GRANT'S RETURN TO AMERICA. 

After an absence of more than two years, 
on the 3d of September. 1879, General Grant 
left his royal friends at Yokohama and sailed 
for his own country. The voyage homeward 
was pleasant, but void of any incidents of 
political significance. On the 20th of Sep- 
tember, 1879, he arrived in San Francisco, 
where he was met by a large delegation of 
his political friends. The ostentation and 
display upon the occasion of his leaving 
America was almost bewildering; but what 
shall we say of his reception? The beauti- 
ful city of San Francisco was decorated in 
its holiday attire, and nothing was left un- 
done to make the returning ex-President feel 
that America belonged to him, and that the 
masses were anxious for him to possess it in 
deed and in truth. 

After leaving San Francisco, the General 
visited other cities, and everywhere he met 
with like receptions. 

The tide is now in his favor. His confiden- 



142 THE GREAT 

tial diplomats are elated beyond description 
at his receptions, and tens of thousands of 
poor blinded citizens, dazzled by the bright- 
ness of his coming, are following in his train, 
anxious to do him honor. 



GENERAL GRANT'S FINANCE 
SCHEME. 

No great work can be accomplished with- 
out money, and it takes a marvelous amount 
to inaugurate and control a great Empire. 
Well did General Grant know that money, 
in almost unlimited supples, must lie at the 
base of his undertaking to convert Republi- 
can America into an Empire — if he would 
succeed. 

It was, undoubtedly, with this object in 
view, that he nominated the money-king of 
New York, Mr. A. T. Stewart, for Secretary 
of the Treasury, when he first took his seat 
in the Presidential chair. It was, no doubt, 
with this object in view, that he became 
the champion of capitalists and mammoth 
corporations, from the very date of his first 
election. To gain the favor of the moneyed 
men of the country he never lost an oppor- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I43 

tunity to advance their interests. In his first 
inaugural address he recommended that the 
United States bonds be paid in gold. Neither 
silver nor greenbacks were good enough to 
pay off those bond-holders, who had already, 
in a multitude of ways, robbed the govern- 
ment. 



THE GREAT NATIONAL WRONG. 

Why were the United States bonds ever 
issued ? If there ever was a necessity for the 
issue, why was the entire scheme germinated 
and developed in a dark corner? Why were 
the masses of people kept in absolute ignor- 
ance of the policy of the government, until 
the bonds were issued and sold to the mon T 
ey-kings of America? These questions re- 
main to this day unanswered. 

The issuing of these bonds was a stupen- 
dous wrong perpetrated against our govern- 
ment, and the entire scheme was concocted 
and culminated in the interest of the traitors 
who trod the sin-stained Wall Street of New 
York. A few true-hearted patriots in Con- 
gress fought the issue till the last moment, 
in those dark days of our Nation's history; 



144 THE GREAT 

but the money power was too strong, — Con- 
gress yielded and authorized the issue, and the 
influential press of the country, taught to do 
the bidding of hydra-headed Mammon, ex- 
tolled the measure to the skies. Even the 
religious press of the East spoke in its favor 
and defended the wise, far-sighted, selfish 
capitalists who " stepped into the breach to 
save the country," (?) and what a saving 
measure it was, to be sure ! 

The Boston Watchman said : " We ought 
to be careful not to wrong those who came 
forward in the hour of the country's need, 
and bought these bonds." Yes, they did 
come forth in the " hour of the country's 
need;" they came to help the government 
just as the vulture comes to help the lamb, 
which he covers and devours. 



THE HISTORY OF THE BONDS. 

Was there ever an "hour of need?" Did 
the interests of our commonwealth ever re- 
quire the issue of interest-bearing bonds? 
It will be remembered by all who took any 
interest in the affairs of the Nation during 
the years of the war, that greenbacks be- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I45 

came exceedingly popular in a very short 
time. They met every requirement of the 
government. By these, however, capitalists 
were not being profited. And, furthermore, 
it was plainly seen that they were fast taking 
the place of State bank notes, and thus de- 
stroying the enormous profits of money- 
lenders. 

This state of things was too humiliating 
for the " Bulls " and " Bears " of Wall Street, 
and in secret conclave it was resolved to 
bring their powerful influences to bear to 
change the tide of affairs. The result was 
the passage of a bill authorizing the germi- 
nation of millions of leeches in the form of 
Government Bonds. These leeches were in- 
stantly applied, and the actual resources of 
the country were as quickly diminished, and 
the coffers of the capitalists swelled to enor- 
mous proportions. 

But we will give in detail the course pur- 
sued by the Wall Street brokers and bank- 
ers, to compel the government to do as they 
demanded. 

At the commencement of the war the 
country and smaller city banks were in the 
habit of keeping deposits in the banks of 
New York, Boston and Philadelphia to re- 

9 



I46 THE GREAT 

deem their own currency that should per- 
chance float into those cities. When green- 
backs were made a legal tender these depos- 
its were made in greenbacks. For the heavy 
capitalists to refuse these greenbacks would 
bring sudden destruction upon the country. 
The opportunity thus presented itself for 
these nabobs to strike for their own interests. 
A Secret Banking Congress assembled, and 
the entire situation was long and learnedly 
discussed. The result was that Mr. Chase, 
the Secretary of the Treasury, was notified 
that some other financial plan must be 
adopted, and this notice was accompanied 
with the threat that if a commission was not 
sent to them for conference in the matter be- 
fore the Thursday of the following week, all 
greenbacks would be thrown out. Of course 
this would have been a most disastrous re- 
sult ; for if the great banks of Wall street 
would not receive greenbacks the country 
banks would not receive them, and if the Na- 
tion's own money was declared worthless, 
national bankruptcy was inevitable. 

Secretary Chase saw the inevitable result 
of a refusal to comply with the demands of 
the money-kings, and, to save the country, 
the commission was appointed. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 147 

To this commission Wall Street proposed 
that if the government would issue bonds 
bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent # 
per annum that they would invent their 
money and " save the country." The 
commission did the best that it could under 
the circumstances, and succeeded in effect- 
ing a compromise in which the proposed rate 
of interest was reduced from ten per cent, 
to seven and three-tenths per cent, per an- 
num. 

The bonds were issued and put upon the 
market, and these same Wall Street sharks 
bought them for forty, fifty and sixty cent? 
on the dollar, and thus they received from 
fifteen to twenty per cent, interest upon the 
money they invested, to say nothing of their 
financial receipts when the same bonds shall 
be paid in full in gold. Wonderful patriotic 
men these Wall Street brokers! Yes, yes; 
they did most magnanimously step into the 
breach to "save our country" when they 
could do it with the wealth of the country 
pouring into their coffers day by day! 

But the swindling operations were inaugu- 
rated and have been going on for several 
years, and if it be continued till 1880, $1,000,- 
000,000 will not cover the direct loss to the 



I48 THE GREAT 

government in interest and compound inter- 
est alone given to them in the use of National 
Bank bills, for which they have not paid one 
cent of interest. 



THE WONDERFUL MONOPOLY. 

These National Banks have one common 
interest from Maine to California. The des- 
tinies of all our manufacturing and commer- 
cial, as well as our agricultural, interests are 
held by them with an iron grasp. What is 
to the interest of one of these Banks is to the 
interest of all. When a scheme to swindle 
the government is concocted by one bank, 
and great profits accrue thereby, all share 
alike in the swindle. 

Monopolies of all kinds are exceedingly 
dangerous; but what shall we say of this 
high-handed moneyed monopoly that is ex- 
tracting the very life out of all our indus- 
tries ! 

General Ulysses S. Grant is the idol of this 
monopoly. The National Banking Scheme 
is a favorite measure with him (why should 
it be otherwise?) and when he shall strike for 
Imperialism in America he can command the 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 1 49 

wealth of the country, thus hoarded away by 
his sub-financiers, and the needed money 
■will most copiously pour into his treasury. 



THE GOVERNMENT DEFIED. 

A number of times have the National 
Banks defied our Republican Government, 
and, because they were the stronger, the 
government has been compelled to yield. 
Their more recent attempt in this direction is 
well described in the following from the New 
York World: 

It seems that after all the Bank power is stronger than 
Congressional power. After a battle which awakened every 
element of discussion, every reason of experience, and every 
logic of history, Congress made silver what it has been 
from the origin of Government, with the exception of the 
brief period when fraud demonetized it in 1S73 — even back 
through the centuries to Abraham, Isaac and Jacoq — a legal- 
tender for the payment of all debts, dues and obligations. 

It was supposed that the question as to the legal status of 
silver, as a legal tender, was settled. The discussions in 
Congress were exhaustive, definite and conclusive. The 
people in every State and Territory had been outspoken and 
emphatic, if not imperative, in their demands that it should 
be reinstated ta its former power. Congress, by a vote so 
overwhelming as to leave no chance for dispute, so decided. 
The Senate, by more than a two-third vote, ratified the pop- 
ular demand. 

Two classes opposed the popular and general voice — 



I50 THE GREAT 

Bankers and Money Shavers. They had united to pro- 
cure the passage of the Credit Strengthening Act of 1869. 
They had united in procuring the fraudulent demonetiza- 
tion of silver in 1873. They had united in forcing the act 
providing for specie payment January I, 1879, in the Con- 
gress of 1875. Each of these vrllanies had but one purpose. 
That was to limit the means of payment, and fines enhance 
the power of gold. They united to force the Government 
into recognizing but one possible legal means of payment, 
knowing that they could control that means. 

Such was the state of the law under Republican rule and 
Bank Association power when the country, discovering the 
situation, was roused to a state of excitement which was but 
one step short of revolution. Under the imperative voice 
of the people, silver was remonetized by the law of Con- 
gress. 

It was but a brief period prior to this that the Bank Asso- 
ciation had announced the omnipotence of its power and 
its determination to dominate over any act of Congress at- 
tempting to put limits to its exercise. The Bank Asso- 
ciation has kept its word. From the moment of the pas- 
sage of the Eland bill it set its machinery in motion 
to resist the law. It had defiantly promulgated its fiat that 
" No Act of Congress can overcome or resist its de- 
cision." It had decided that it would drive silver from cir- 
culation. It has done much to keep good the impudent ar- 
rogance of its insolent boast. It commenced by refusing to 
receive the trade dollar, and the banks, from Maine to Geor- 
gia, placed them under the ban in compliance with the orders 
of the head of the association in New York. The associa- 
tion depreciated them to ninety cents, and tile people had to 
submit because they were not made a legal tender. 

The Government dollars were pushed into circulation just 
as fast as they could be paid out, without over-reaching the 
convenience of depositors, and yet the Banks, under the 
spur of the Association, united with the Metropolitan Press- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 151 

to discredit and disparage them as money. London and 
New York joined hands to echo the orders of the Roths- 
childs to discredit silver. Drive it from circulation, says 
Shylock. Force it into discredit, says the Bank Association. 
And while the Republican party and the Bourbon element 
of the Democratic party united to declare that there could 
be no money unless it was, and is, redeemable in coin, and 
consolidated their efforts with those of the Bank Association 
to force on the Government to specie payment, the Bank 
Association kept up its war on silver. It got possession of 
the Secretary of the Treasury and manipulated him to their 
purpose. It feasted him in the bank parlors of New York. 
It wined him and dined him till he had no opinions but their 
opinions, no policy but their policy. 

As the period for resumption approached, the Secretary 
of the Treasury found that he could not take a step towards 
resumption unless he could have the support and co-opera- 
tion of the banks. He could only have their support by 
yielding implicit obedience to the orders of the Bank Asso- 
ciation. The Association said, ''Ignore silver!" It had 
declared that it would dominate over the law-making power; 
and it gave Mr. Sherman notice that he must consent to this 
domination. And he has so far yielded to their dictation as 
to have placed silver entirely outside of the question of re- 
sumption. The Bank Association recognizes gold as money. 
Mr. Sherman counts up his gold money and predicates his 
power to redeem on that and on that alone. The Bank As- 
sociation started the idea months since that there could be 
no resumption except in gold ; that it would be an insult to 
the banks and to capital to offer to pay in silver. The Cin- 
cinnati banks declared their readiness to redeem their bills 
;n gold. These banks at the time had no amount of their 
bills in circulation. They knew they could not be called on 
for gold. The New York banks have no bills in circulation, 
and they, too, can pompously offer to redeem in gold. 

But what right has the Secretary of the Treasury to dis- 



152 THE GREAT 

criminate against the people in favor of usuers and money 
sharks? We have silver in the Treasury, and it is as much 
the duty of Mr. Sherman to pay out silver in liquidation of 
coin demands as it is to pay out gold. He joins with the 
enemies of the country in their insane efforts to cripple us 
by forcing us into the Gold Standard. He would aid the 
Shylocks of the gold market in making silver odious. He 
would falsify the laws of Congress. He would make us the 
subject slaves of the Rothschilds. 

Producing more silver from our mines than is produced 
by any other government in the world, we can, with it, be- 
come independent of the world. §60,000,000 annually to 
be taken from our mines, to make us the dependent borrow- 
ers of the gold kings. It is so much robbed from labor, from 
wages, from employment, to pander to the potver of capital. 
With silver as a means, we can stop the mad ravings of the 
vampires who would speculate on famine. We can curb 
the rampant insolence with which eager Shylocks would 
cripple the Treasury by making gold, and gold only, the 
means of answering their nefarious demands. Tender them 
silver. Silver is coin ; silver is money ; silver is hard money; 
silver is the money of the world, and if it is not good enough 
for the bondholders and the bill holders, stop the interest on 
the bonds till it is good enough. The bankers desire to 
force it upon the poor in place of small bills, but they will 
not take it as money. They are rich ; thev are mag- 
nates: they can't spend the time to count our small bills, or 
permit their dues to be lengthened with silver. 

Yes, the Banks are determined to set aside the silver law. 
They are determined to drive silver from circulation. They 
have made up their minds that silver is too plenty to allow 
the money power the grinding usury they know they can 
command it gold alone rules. For with specie payment as a 
force law, and with gold alone as a means of paying debts* 
Shylock can make his own terms. The debtor is the slave of 
the creditor. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 153 

Specie payment with silver will be easy for the whole peo- 
ple, from the artisan to the banker, from the hired girl to the 
millionaire, from the day laborer to the merchant, and from 
the mechanic to the farmer. The Greenback is preferred to 
silver. The people prefer it because they know the Govern- 
ment is back of every bill. 

Specie payment without silver will be an impossibility. 
The gold is not in the country, it cannot be procured. The 
demand for it will be urgent and imperative, just in propor- 
tion to our inability to supply it. The Jews, the Wall-street 
cutthroats, and the whole soulless crew of money speculators 
who stand ready to draw the last dollar of gold, if gold alone 
is to rule, will sneak away if silver is given them for their 
feast. But if gold alone rules they will triumph as they tri- 
umphed in 1S64. Gold will go up and everything else will 
go down. The question then is, Shall the Banks rule Con- 
gress or shall Congress rule the Banks; shall all protection, 
shall all property, shall all wages be dependent upon the 
whims of the gold tyrants ? 

The banks in New York have issued their fiat. They 
have informed the Secretary of the Treasury the terms on 
which they will aid him, and the terms on which they will 
crush him. "Ignore silver, pay in gold, put yourself 
AT our MERCY, and, if you behave like a good boy, we 
will, if we can make, it pay, help you carry through the 
resumpt on farce. Ii you don't do this we will draw the last 
dollar of gold from your vaults ; we will renew sacrifices ; 
we will show our teeth ; we will make Gold king; we will 
rule." 

The banks give notice that they will ruin any man who 
dares to pay his notes in silver. This is a quiet way of say- 
ing to the Secretary of the Treasury : If you dare to attempt 
resumption by paying in silver we will defeat you. 

It is the rule or ruin policy. It is Shylock sharpening 
his knife for the pound of flesh. What shall be done? 
Shall the banks rule ? Shall Congress admit that they are 



154 THE GREAT 

omnipotent, and that the Government dare not use silver 
for resumption because the Bank Association says to the 
people: Dare to pay in silver and we will crush you ? 

The banks even hesitate about the insolence of their terms. 
They succumb to the Greenback. They say they will con- 
sent to take silver as money provided the Government will 
agree to redeem it in sums above $50 in Greenbacks, thus 
admitting that the Greenback has become so far superior to 
coin that coin will not pass for money unless the Govern- 
ment will agree to redeem it in Greenbacks. 

Yes, the Greenback is superior to coin. Congress is su- 
perior to the Bank Association. It has the right to rule, for 
it is the people. It shall rule, for it is the sovereign power 
of the nation. The Secretary of the Treasury must use sil- 
ver in his redemptions. The law demands it, and the lazv 
must be obeyed. The banks have made the issue against sil- 
ver. The people will make the issue against the banks. 
The banks have consolidated, fraternized, and united them- 
selves into a combination of capital, now known as the 
Money Power, to defy the laws of Congress, and to trample 
upon the rights, the interests, and the prosperity of the peo- 
ple. And the people will conso'idate, fraternize, and unite 
to declare to the banks, to the Bank Association, and to the 
Money Power, that Congress shall be omnipotent, that sil- 
ver shall be money, and that, come what may, the Bank 
Power shall not rule the destinies of the people. All pro- 
duction swears it, all Labor takes the oath, all mechanics 
unite before Heaven to say it shall not be. 

Resumption in silver, or no resumption, is as honest as 
resumption in gold, or no resumption. Silver must be 
treated, for all resumption purposes, as the exact equivalent 
of gold. Mr. Sherman must remember that he is at the 
head of the Treasury of the Government, and not of the 
Bank Association. The people say to him, discriminate 
against silver and you discriminate against the Law. Coin 
is the word. Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Jefferson, 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I 55 

John Adams, Madison — the founders, the fathers, the pa- 
triots, the statesmen — made silver a legal tender. Shall the 
genius of their teaching prevail, or shall the teaching of the 
Bank Association prevail? We have reached the issue. 
The battle opens. Down with the banks ; they are a curse. 
Down with the Bank Association : it is a combination of 
tyrants, sworn to rule the liberties and the finances of the 
nation. They would be dictators ; they must be subjects. 
They would be an untaxed nobility, controlling bounties, 
privileges, and immunities; they must be equals, having 
neither bounties, privileges, or immunities. 

The banks say silver shall not be money. The people 
say silver shall be money. Behold the issue. The battle 
was fought and the people won. The banks say the battle 
must be fought over again. 

It is the Bondholding Bank Monopolists, forming an un- 
taxed aristocracy of privileges and bounties on one side. It 
is labor, it is production, it is the mechanic, the farmer, the 
people, on the other. We are ready for the battle ! 

The World says, " We are ready for the 
battle." We fear not, Mr. World. With our 
combined forces we may not be able to suc- 
cessfully cope with such an adversary. Gen- 
eral Jackson could suppress one National 
bank ; but if he were here to-day, could he 
blot from existence our vast array of Nation- 
al batiks, this, the most dangerous money 
monopoly that the world ever saw ? 



SECRETARY CHASE'S REGRETS. 
We have said that the honorable Secretary 
of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, used his 






15^ THE GREAT 

influence to secure the passage of the Na- 
tional Bank Act. So he did ; but years of 
experience showed him his mistake, and he 
came most honorably before the public and 
expressed his deep regret. The following 
extract, touching this matter, we take from a 
prominent political journal : 

" The question which overshadows all 
others is, who shall issue the currency of the 
country? This is the largest and most sub- 
stantial platform ever made by any political 
party. Secretary Chase said that his 'agen- 
cy in procuring the passage of the National 
Bank Act was the greatest financial mistake 
of his life." He said : ' It has built up a 
monopoly that affects every business interest 
of the country, and if it wills can control the 
whole financial business of the country. It 
should be repealed.' He says: 'Before that 
is accomplislied, the people will be arrayed 
upon one side and the National Bankers on 
the other, in a contest such as zee have never 
seen in this country.' This is a monopoly, 
and its will is the law of this Administration. 
The Republican organization has undertaken 
to champion this damnable monopoly. When 
the masses of that party shall see the issue 
well defined, and that their leaders are com- 
mitted to the bank interest, and against a 
Government money, the ranks of the Green- 
back party will fill up rapidly. In some 
measure this loss to the Republicans would 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I 57 

be made up by recruits from the bank wing 
of the Democratic fold. I shall hope to see 
a union of all the elements, when ' the contest 
such as has never been seen in this country,' as 
predicted by Chase, will come off in 1880. 
The people will win ultimately; the bank 
party will go to the wall. We will have legal- 
tender Greenback currency ; the bonds will 
be paid as fast as they mature ; business will 
revive and the country prosper." 



THE CONTEST IN 1880. 

It is not our purpose in this book to pre- 
sent in detail the true finance scheme, — the 
one that must be adopted to save our coun- 
try from ruin. We are only pointing out the 
monstrous dangers of the present scheme, 
and reading aloud the evils which are surely 
impending. A crisis is "upon us. Prompt, 
decisive action on the part of the masses only 
can save us from the most fearful consequen- 
ces. 

General Grant and his " Klan " of monop- 
olists, are already arrayed in a deadly con- 
flict against the laboring classes. We do not 
assert that General Grant will receive the 
nomination for the Presidency in 1880; but 
we do say that if lie does, the issue between 



158 THE GREAT 

the contending parties will be clearly defined. 
The currency question will constitute the 
issue. The Imperialists, with Grant leading 
on, will declare in favor of the National 
Banks; that the "Government currency" 
shall be withdrawn, and that the notes of the 
National Banks shall constitute the currency 
of the country. 

Opposing the Imperialists will be the hon- 
est, patriotic manufacturers and producers, 
who will declare in favor of a United States 
currency of paper, based upon gold and sil- 
ver. They will also declare in favor of an 
immediate repeal of the National Bank Act. 

This will be the most bitter contest in the 
history of American Presidential campaigns; 
and if it shall be decided without the shed- 
ding of much blood, we shall be greatly as- 
tonished. 



GENERAL GRANT'S CONSTITUTION- 
AL DESPOTISM. 

To a casual observer, General Grant seems 
the embodiment of humility and real Chris- 
tian condescension. He has a wonderful 
faculty of making many friends and fevvene- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. I 59 

mies. Among his ardent supporters and in- 
timate friends we may, to-day, find the good 
and the bad, the honest and the dishonest, 
the Christian and the infidel, the Protestant 
and the Romanist, and all seem to vie with 
each other in recounting his greatness of 
nature and goodness of heart. 

The true physiognomist and the reader of 
unwritten history alone can see down through 
those snapping, sparkling eyes into the soul, 
and read, in unmistakable characters, the 
realty of his nature, and the intents of his 
heart. His characteristic blandness would 
deceive the " very elect," and make them 
willing to testify, upon the sacred volume, 
that he is a saint forever, after the order of 
Washington. 

General Grant is a man of most wonder- 
fully strong impulses. His likes and dislikes 
are alike radical. Those whom he loves, he 
loves almost wildly; his enemies he hates 
with the bitterest of hatred. While this is 
true, his ideas and cherished plans are dearer 
to him than all his friends, and he who op- 
poses these, though he may have been on the 
most intimate terms with him, is spurned in 
an instant. His despotic nature is stronger 
than his affection, and his opponent must be 



l60 THE GREAT 

crushed, though he follow him to the ends of 
the earth. 



HISTORICAL INCIDENTS. 

To illustrate General Grant's despotic and 
vindictive nature, we have but to recall in- 
stances in his Presidential career. A great 
number of these are on record, but we can 
find space to call attention to a very few. 

Every reader of political news well remem- 
bers the multiform corruptions that flourished 
so luxuriously among government officials 
and Presidential appointees during the sec- 
ond term of President Grant's administration. 
Many of these fraudulent manipulations must 
have been known to the Chief Executive 
himself, certainly to many of the so-called 
people's representatives who trod the legisla- 
tive halls of our nation. Among these legal 
representatives there were, however, very 
few who dared to speak. The great soldier 
of a hundred battle fields was recognized as 
holding a hand of protection over his chosen 
servants, and, lest they should bring upon 
themselves his anathemas, they closed their 
ears, covered their eyes, and bowed submis- 
sively before their chief. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. l6l 

Among the people's representatives, there 
was one who dared to speak. Hon. B. F. 
Bristow, of Kentucky, the honest Secretary 
of the Treasury, came to the front to cham- 
pion the cause of honesty and right. Step 
after step was taken in the varied routine of 
investigation, and every movement developed 
rottenness and corruption, the fearful stench 
of which rose higher than any prayer ever 
made by any of the polluted crew, from the 
chief to his private secretary, since they for- 
got their God-given, 

"Now I lay me down to sleep." 

This must have been forgotten at a very 
early age. 

So many of the Administration appointees 
were convicted of high crimes ; so many cor- 
rupt leagues and whiskey rings were discov- 
ered, of which high government officials were 
prime factors, so many government " confi- 
dentials" were "weighed in the balance and 
found wanting," that the masses stood back 
in perfect astonishment, and asked, " Who 
will fall next ? " 

Amid all this consternation, the stern old 
Bristow faltered not, but pushed the official 
investigations, determined that the legisla- 
ture and executive halls of our great nation 

10 



l62 THE GREAT 

should be purified, though every man should 
fall. On and on rolled this ball of purifica- 
tion, until no less a personage than Gen. Os- 
car E. Babcock, President Grant's private 
Secretary, was, f o say the least, apparently 
connected with monstrous corruptions. Then, 
suddenly, an all-powerful arm was raised, 
and a despotic voice pealed over the seething 
sea of corruption, saying, " It is enough." 
President Grant spoke from his Executive 
mansion, and Secretary Bristow was removed. 

Mr. Bristow had gone too far to suit the 
Chief; he brought down the President's ven- 
geance upon his head, and he was crushed — 
crushed out of sight. The day before his 
removal there was no man in all the land 
more popular than Mr. Bristow. His hon- 
esty of purpose and determination in prosecu- 
ting the ring-tliieves made the masses love 
him, and his name had already been men- 
tioned in every part of the country in con- 
nection with the next Presidency. 

Whether Secretary Bristow was removed 
because he was becoming too popular to suit 
the Chief, or because his investigations were 
getting too close to the Presidential chair, or 
both, we shall, most probably, never know. 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 163 

THE HAYTI AFFAIR AND ITS 
RESULTS. 



The history of President Grant's attempt 
to annex the Island of Hayti to the United 
States, must be familiar to all persons at all 
conversant with the political history of the 
" First Term " administration. The Presi- 
dent had set his heart on this measure ; 
there was an avenue here through which 
he could have reached a throne ; he thought, 
too, it would be popular. What other 
thoughts this silent man had about the mat- 
ter we can only guess ; but the honest leader 
of the United States Senate, who was at this 
time Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, opposed the measure. He op- 
posed it on the ground that it would be a 
great zvrong. This opposition was success- 
ful; the President's pet measure was defeat- 
ed, and, during the discussions, many reflec- 
tions were cast upon the President's own 
conduct in connection with the matter. 

On account of the defeat of this measure, 
the President made a fiendish attack upon 
Hon. Chas. Sumner, in comparison to which 
the brutal assault of Brooks was merciful and 
considerate. 



164 THE GREAT 

Of President Grant's intense hatred of Mr. 
Sumner, we have already written ; but, be- 
lieving that the magnitude of the wrong 
which he perpetrated, and is still perpetrat- 
ing, whenever occasion offers, against this 
man, was totally without cause, we give the 
full text of a letter from the London corre- 
spondent of the New York Tribune, under 
date of October 29, 1879: 

" It appears that Gen. Grant considers, in what was said 
at the time of Mr. Motley's death, respecting his own treat- 
ment of Mr. Motley, injustice was done him. If injustice 
had been done, it was open to Gen. Grant, to point out in 
temperate language, and with some precision, in what the 
injustice consisted, and to state the facts which refuted the 
unjust accusation. But he has not done that. What he says 
does not refute the accusation. It confirms it. The words 
Gen. Grant uses, prove that he still retains a bitter enmity 
to the man whom he wronged. What I wrote at the time of 
Mr. Motley's death, that the brutality of his dismissal may 
be said to have killed him — I repeat. It was a blow from 
which he, a most sensitive and high-spirited man, never re- 
covered. He did not complain of being dismissed. He 
complained of being dismissed in a manner that amounted 
to a personal insult — in a manner calculated and intended 
to degrade him, to expose him to public contempt, as a min- 
ister who was unworthy of his office. His complaint was 
just. The complaints against him were untrue or exaggerat- 
ed, or else were frivolous and technical. He was sacrificed 
because of his friendship for Mr. Sumner. I need not fol- 
low Gen. Grant in what he said of Sumner. I know of only 
one thing to compare with this deplorable outburst. It 
bears a painful likeness to the reply of M. Paul de Cassag- 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. 165 

nac to the accusation of trampling on the grave of Thiers : 
'No,' said Cassagnac, 'we don't trample on it; all we do 
is to dance by the side.' I say this with extreme reluc- 
tance, but Gen. Grant's attack on Mr. Motley appears to be 
meant as an answer to what I wrote in eulogy, as he says, 
of Mr. Motley, and leaves me no choice, except to protest 
against it. To pass it over in silence might imply acquies- 
cence in it; and since the charges against Sumner make 
part of the same conversation, I must express my complete 
disbelief of these also, and my abhorrence of the spirit in 
which they are made." 

From Harper s Weekly of March 16, 1878, 
we quote : 

"On the 25th of September, 1877, the New York Herald 
published a report of a conversation with Gen. Grant, in 
which Gen. Grant was alleged to have accused U. S. Sena- 
tor Sumner of delaying and obstructing the public business 
in the Committee of Foreign Relations, of which he was 
Chairman, by failing to report nine documents, and of tell- 
ing falsehoods, in stating that he had reported them, know- 
ing the same to be false. This positive and public charge 
against a dead man, continued to receive the sanction of 
Gen. Grant's name, after it was brought to his knowledge. 
"On the 20th of November, 1877, the U. S. Senate per- 
mitted the official records of Mr. Sumner as Chairman, to 
be published, when it appeared that he had ' promptly re- 
ported ' to the Senate the Treaties that Grant accused him 
of smothering and lying about. It was proved that the Sen- 
ator had done right, and that what he said was strictly true. 
Sumner was vindicated, after he had died from the brutality." 



GRANTS IMPERIAL SEED GROWING. 

Since General Grant's visit to England 
thousands of Englishmen have made their 



l66 THE GREAT 

way to this country. Not only are the Eng- 
lish laboring classes taking possession of our 
lands, but the monied men are becoming 
large land owners in all our Western States 
and Territories. The Patterson Standard 
says, editorially : "The English aristocrats 
are buying immense tracts of land in the 
United Staces, getting ready, no doubt, for 
the American Empire. The immense grants 
of lands to railroads have made it easy 
for Englishmen to buy large tracts of land, 
which they have of late purchased in Colora- 
do, Iowa, Kansas, and elsewhere ; doubtless, 
if we should have an Empire, these lands 
would be entailed." 

But why this very recent move by the Brit- 
ish to get possession of our lands? We do 
not say that the thought originated with 
General Grant; but we know that soon after 
the time of his " strictly confidential visit " to 
the Queen, these extensive purchases were 
made. 

The people of the Great West have not 
been slow in comprehending the situation. 
They are already on the alert, and are deter- 
mined to fight the coming monster to the bit- 
ter end. 

The Los Angelos (Cal.) Star, contains the 
following pointed item : 



AMERICAN EMPIRE. \6j 

"These plotters for a King may as well 
know in advance that their Imperialism, even 
if temporarily successful, will be of short du- 
ration ; that it will be followed by one of the 
bloodiest wars of history, and that the very 
property that is seeking protection under im- 
perialism will be the first to be confiscated in 
the name of the redeemed Republic." 



THE OUTLOOK. 

General Ulysses S. Grant has returned to 
America, from his extended tour. Marvelous 
beyond description have been his receptions 
everywhere. The rulers of every European 
nation have been visited, their favor sought, 
and, we have reasons to believe, in almost 
every instance, gained. 

Upon his return to his native land he met 
with a more honorable and pompous recep- 
tion than was ever tendered to mortal man 
before, in this country. 

It is true that among the men who till the 
soil, who manufacture our goods of every 
description, who build our houses, — in short, 
among the producing classes of America, 
General Grant is not popular ; but with the 



l68 THE GREAT 

money-kings, the office-seekers, and the 
petty politicians, he is esteemed as a great 
leader, little inferior to a god. 

At this juncture it is impossible to tell 
what may be the result of the forthcoming 
nominating convention. Many have said that 
General Grant will not be a candidate under 
any circumstance whatever. What was the 
import of that recent letter to his intimate 
friend, Hon. E. B. Washburne ? In substance 
he said, that should the Republican party 
call, he was ready to answer; that he would 
come forward, should the exigencies of the 
case demand. 

Roscoe Conkling, Duke of New York, is 
laying his plans well and deep, and General 
Grant is the great central figure in all his 
scheming and political intrigue. 

Apparently, Hon. John Sherman is prepar- 
ing for a fight for the Presidential chair ; but 
it is all a political ruse. The present admin- 
istration, with all that belongs to it, is pledged 
to the coming King. A number of promi- 
nent men may come to the front, and may 
stand there, too, till the afternoon of the last 
day of the forthcoming National Republican 
Convention; but, doubtless, it will all be for 
effect. At the last moment they will, prob- 



AMERICAN EMriRE. 169 

ably, gracefully retire, and General Ulysses 
S. Grant will stand alone, the more glorious 
for the seeming conflict, and by acclamation 
he will be nominated for the Presidency. 

With General Grant at the head of the 
Republican ticket, and with all the monopo- 
lies, — National Banks, etc., all the office- 
seekers of the party, and with the corrupt 
poltroons that will use the millions of dollars 
placed in their hands to buy votes, success 
is a foregone conclusion. 

If General Grant again sits in the Presi- 
dential chair of the United States, the "solid 
South " will immediately be thrown into 
such a fever of excitement as to threaten 
another civil war; and then the military Pres- 
ident will have a pretext for declaring Mar- 
tial Law; and what will follow but the abso- 
lute rule of the President? 

On the other hand, should some strong 
Democrat receive the nomination at the 
forthcoming National Democratic Conven- 
tion, and a "solid South" secure his elec- 
tion, the "solid Republican North " would 
oppose his inauguration, and another civil 
war would follow, and a dictatorship would 
be the result. 

In discussing the probabilities of the nom- 



170 THE GREAT 

ination of Samuel J. Tilden, the St. Louis 
Post-Dispatch, July 9, 1879, says: 

Two reasons of the many that could be 
mentioned seem to us to demand the most 
unhesitating and outspoken opposition to 
such a possible calamity as the nomination 
of Mr. Tilden would be. 

First — He could not be elected. 

Second — He would not be inaugurated even 
if elected. 

Yet it would be folly to deny that Mr. Til- 
den's nomination is among the possibilities. 

The possession of five millions of dollars, 
the possession of sense, shrewdness and 
ability in many things, the possession of life- 
long experience as a practical politician of 
the machine type, who understands all about 
the art of wire-pulling, and above all, the 
possession of the prestige of having been 
elected in 1876 and defrauded out of his 
place, give Mr. Tilden a certain strength, 
which, under circumstances, may become 
formidable." 

If, by any means, a conservative of either 
party should be elected to the Presidency in 
18S0, the terrible calamity may be averted 
for the time ; but if General Grant lives, he 
will continue his political intrigues. With 
him it is " rule or ruin ; " Imperialism or con- 
stant war. 

Fellow-citizens, what of the situation? 






AMERICAN EMPIRE. IJ\ 

Are you willing to rest in perfect silence, and 
let these imperial traitors pollute the graves 
of our patriotic dead with their unholy feet? 
Shall the Declaration of American Indepen- 
dence, for which our fore-fathers fought, bled 
and died, be ruthlessly torn from our hands, 
and trampled beneath the feet of this ambi- 
tious clan? Shall we permit our civil and 
religious liberties, which have been trans- 
mitted to us as a sacred trust, to be forever 
parted from us and our posterity ? Hark, ye 
brave men ! God will not hold you guiltless 
•if you are recreant to the sacred trust ! 

Let us preserve our freedom, our civil and 
religious liberties, peaceably if we can, but 
forcibly if we must. Let us transmit these 
God-given principles unimpaired to our 
children, though we must do it at the ex- 
pense of the lives of every ambitious Im- 
perialist who dares to tread our shores. 
Gird your loins, then, brave patriots, for the 
issue. Sooner or later it will be made. 
Let political death come to every traitor, and 
let the intriguing Imperialists of the entire 
world know that the United States of Amer- 
ica shall forever be a free and independent 
Republic. 

In closing the pages of this terrible revela- 



172 THE GREAT 

tion, the intelligent reader will be struck with 
the fact that not an incident has been narrat- 
ed, that cannot be proven beyond the shadow 
of a doubt. The fearful conclusions come 
crowding upon us, accumulating so continu- 
ously during the whole period, that the most 
obtuse cannot close their eyes to the awful 
dangers that seem just upon us. If patriot- 
ism and sound judgment could take the 
place of this mad determination to rule or 
ruin, — if "great hearts and strong brains" 
could come to the front, and bravely bid de- 
fiance to this selfishness and ambition, there 
would be hope for our country's institutious. 



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